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The Who's Who of Zen BuddhismThu, 19 Feb 2015 15:23:18 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=4.1.1The End of a (Zen) Buddhist Mythhttp://sweepingzen.com/the-end-of-a-zen-buddhist-myth/
http://sweepingzen.com/the-end-of-a-zen-buddhist-myth/#commentsThu, 30 Oct 2014 21:27:03 +0000http://sweepingzen.com/?p=99626Editor’s note: This is a rebuttal from Brian Victoria to Jundo Cohen’s recent piece (found here) critiquing the quality of Victoria’s translations. Foreword Inasmuch as the Sweeping Zen website is not a peer-reviewed academic journal, the following article is written in essay form with abbreviated endnotes. Further, I refer to Jundo Cohen’s statements as contained ...

]]>Editor’s note: This is a rebuttal from Brian Victoria to Jundo Cohen’s recent piece (found here) critiquing the quality of Victoria’s translations.

Foreword

Inasmuch as the Sweeping Zen website is not a peer-reviewed academic journal, the following article is written in essay form with abbreviated endnotes. Further, I refer to Jundo Cohen’s statements as contained both in his abbreviated article on the Sweeping Zen website as well as the longer report he linked to.

Introduction

“Whatever form Buddhism takes in different countries where it flourishes, it is a religion of compassion, and in its varied history it has never been found engaged in warlike activities.”[1]

What a wonderful statement if it were true, for Buddhism could then justly claim to be the sole truly peaceful religion in the world! Alas, as regular readers of the Sweeping Zen website already know, it simply isn’t true. In fact, D.T. Suzuki himself invoked Buddhism in urging Japanese soldiers to sacrifice their lives as early as the Russo-Japanese War. In 1904 he wrote:“Let us then shuffle off this mortal coil whenever it becomes necessary, and not raise a grunting voice against the fates. . . . Resting in this conviction, Buddhists carry the banner of Dharma over the dead and dying until they gain final victory.”[2]

Further, in an article Suzuki wrote for an Imperial Army Officers Journal in June 1941 he clearly explained how, for many centuries, Zen had been intimately connected to Japan’s warriors and the incessant warfare they engaged in:

In Japan warriors have, for the most part, practiced Zen. Especially from the Kamakura period [1185-1333] through the Ashikaga [1337-1573] and Warring States period [1467-1567], it is correct to say that all of them practiced Zen. This is clear when one looks at such famous examples as [warlords] Uesugi Kenshin, Takeda Shingen, and others. . . . I believe one should pay special attention to the fact that Zen became united with the sword.[3]

Aside from revealing Suzuki’s own uncritical acceptance of the unity of Zen with decidedly physical swords, it is equally clear that the Zen school in Japan has a heritage of a close relationship to warfare extending over many centuries. In supporting Japan’s modern wartime aggression, Suzuki, Yasutani Haku’un, Sawaki Kōdō and many other Japanese Zen leaders were doing no more than following in the well-trodden footsteps of their predecessors.

Nevertheless, once a religious myth has been established, i.e., of Buddhism, Zen included, as a religion of peace, it is difficult to dispel. This is especially the case when it challenges deeply held beliefs on the part of the adherents of any religion. This is even more so in the case of Zen when the disciples of allegedly “enlightened” Zen masters are confronted by the support their masters gave to naked military aggression, as was the case in Japan’s 1937 full-scale invasion of China or its earlier brutal colonization of Korea beginning in 1905.

While some disciples, both in Japan and the West, have found a way to accept the moral failures of their masters, most often by simply ignoring them, other disciples have set out on a self-appointed mission to defend these masters, or at least those masters connected to their own Dharma lineage, at whatever cost. In the first instance they do this by denigrating anyone who introduces the wartime record of the master in question, i.e., he “mistranslated” the master’s words, “took them out of context,” “sought to hide contradictory evidence,” etc.

Jundo Cohen’s Critique

Jundo Cohen provides a good example of the above phenomenon in a recent article posted on the Sweeping Zen website entitled, “‘Zen At War’ Brian Victoria: Throwing Bombs at Kodo.” The article is available here. Readers acquainted with this article will know that Cohen makes a determined effort to defend, or salvage, as much of Sawaki Kōdō’s wartime record as possible. Yet, he also provides some genuinely new information about this controversial master. This is to be welcomed, for it allows readers to better judge that wartime record.

However, the truth is that, at least indirectly, I suggested the need for such an effort in the Preface to my bookZen at War. On p. xv of the 2nd edition, I wrote:

In an attempt to show at least some of the complexity of the Zen Buddhist response to Japan’s military actions, I have included sections on Zen Buddhist war resisters as well as collaborators. On whichever side of the fence these Buddhists placed themselves, their motivations were far more complex than can be presented in a single volume. Nor, of course, can their lives and accomplishments be evaluated solely on the basis of their position regarding the relationship of Zen to the state and warfare. A holistic evaluation of these leaders, however, is not the subject of this book. (Emphasis mine)

I would sincerely like to believe that Cohen failed to read these lines and therefore criticized me without knowing that at the very outset of Zen at War I informed readers that the complexity of my subjects’ motivations could not be presented in a single volume. As a survey, I could present no more than an introduction to the personages involved. As I made clear, their lives should not be evaluated solely on the basis of their wartime speech and actions.

It is quite understandable that Cohen feels the need to defend Sawaki, for he is the disciple of Nishijima Wafu Gudo who Cohen informs us was himself an Imperial Army soldier stationed in Manchuria from 1943-45 as well as a self-identified lay student of Sawaki in the war’s early years. Given this, it is reasonable to assume Nishijima was well acquainted with Sawaki’s stance toward the war. Notwithstanding this, in postwar years Nishijima essentially denied Sawaki’s wartime support for Japanese aggression. Speaking in English, Nishijima said:

Some American man wrote the book which criticizes Master Kōdō Sawaki in the war so strongly. But I think the book includes some kind of exaggeration. And meeting Master Kōdō Sawaki-rōshi directly, he was not so affirmative to the war, but at the same time he was thinking to do his duty as a man in Japan. So in such a situation I think his attitude is not so extremely right or left. And he is usually keeping the Middle Way as a Buddhist monk. I think such a situation is true.[4]

Compare this defense with the opening lines of Cohen’s recent article: “In the heat of wartime, Kodo Sawaki frequently expressed views in support of his country, combining Buddhist and Zen Doctrines, soldiering, mercy and military duty, Kannon and the Emperor in ways that may be criticized and shocking to people today. Brian Victoria is right.” A few paragraphs later, Cohen adds: “He [Sawaki] interpreted various Buddhist and Zen doctrines in order to do so in a way many of us (I am one) may find often wrong and shocking.”

In comparing Cohen’s words with those of his master, Cohen clearly breaks with his master’s viewpoint. I applaud him for this, even though it has taken him a long time to do so. Yet the question must be asked, would Cohen have ever criticized Sawaki’s wartime record if I had not first raised the issue? That said, I would be remiss if I failed to point out that Cohen also writes: “The picture of Kodo Sawaki, and the views he expressed, are much more subtle than Victoria lets on and wants to let us see. Brian Victoria is wrong.”

In reflecting on these words, let me first remind readers that Sawaki had become a Sōtō Zen priest at age eighteen, taking a solemn vow to observe the associated precepts including the first precept forbidding killing. This was followed by two years of Zen training. At age 21, however, he enlisted in the Imperial Army where he served in the Thirty-third Infantry Regiment. Following the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War in February 1904, Sawaki, now aged 25, was ordered to northern China to fight Russians in the summer of that year.

It was following the Russo-Japanese War that Sawaki is quoted as having said that he and his comrades literally engaged in a “stomach-full” (hara-ippai) of killing Russian soldiers, unquestionably breaking the first of his priestly vows. True, Sawaki later criticized himself for his reckless bravado at the time, especially for having sought fame and rewards in the process. Thus, he urged his disciples and readers to give up all such motives as they fought in the Asia-Pacific War (1937-45), i.e., they should fight and die selflessly inspired by the teachings of Zen Master Dōgen.

Cohen and I clearly have differing interpretations of what Sawaki meant when he later recounted his battlefield experiences. My position is detailed in both the article posted on the Japan Focus website, i.e., “Zen Masters on the Battlefield (Part I) and the companion article, “The Non-self as a Killer,” posted on the Sweeping Zen website.

What Cohen fails to note is that the primary reason I included this episode in Zen at War was not to demonstrate what a “blood-thirsty” Zen priest Sawaki was, but for a completely different reason, i.e., to show what was perceived at the time to be the effectiveness of Zen training on the battlefield. On p. 35 I wrote: “In this simple conversation [with his fellow soldiers] we find what is perhaps the first modern reference to the effectiveness of Zen on the battlefield. Although Kōdō himself never fought again, he continued to support the unity of Zen and war.” In short, my purpose was to give a concrete example of where and when Zen’s connection to Japan’s modern battlefields began.

As for Sawaki, there can be no debate on the fact that he killed a sizeable number of human beings even though, as a Buddhist priest, he had pledged not to do so. This raises perhaps the single most important question this article poses for those readers, lay or cleric, who have taken similar vows, i.e., what to do if ordered by your political leaders to kill fellow human beings whom you have never met but are designated as the nation’s “enemies”?

Especially given that America and its European allies are now in a perpetual state of war, this is a question that should be seriously considered and debated by every Western Buddhist. For example, are Buddhists free to disregard their vows if their political leaders order them to kill? Are they free to kill as Buddhists so long as they are fighting a “defensive” or “just” war? If so, who determines whether the war is “just”? Do their nation’s political leaders determine this, and they simply obey? Do senior Buddhist clerics, e.g., “Zen masters” or the Dalai Lama, determine this, or do they themselves make this determination? And what happens, or what should they do, if they decide not to obey such orders, i.e., not to kill?

In Sawaki’s case, Japan had begun its forceful imperial expansion with its victory in the first Sino-Japanese War in 1894-5. As a result, Japan acquired its first overseas colony in the form of the Chinese island of Taiwan. Then, in the war in which Sawaki fought, Japan defeated a fellow imperialist power, i.e., Imperial Russia, thereby removing the last impediment to its colonization of a militarily weak Korea, a process it began immediately after its victory in 1905. While Sawaki, a Buddhist priest, was only one small part of Japan’s colonial enterprise, he was nevertheless directly involved.

Why is this so important? First, as noted above, it forces those of us who identify as Buddhists, to determine what is, or should be, our response to the state’s call to break the precept against killing? In Japan’s case, it also underscores an important claim made by James Ketelaar in his book, Of Heretics and Martyrs in Meiji Japan: “[Buddhism] was indeed one, if not the only, organization capable of offering effective resistance to state policy.”[5]

This is certainly not to suggest that Sawaki could have, by himself, had an impact either on the Russo-Japanese War or the subsequent Japanese-initiated wars of colonial expansion throughout Asia. Yet, as I point out in Chapters III, IV, and VI of Zen at War, there were a few Japanese Buddhist priests who did speak out against war on the basis of their Buddhist faith, even at the cost, in one instance, of being hung to death. Sawaki, the “patriot” (according to Cohen), was very clearly not one of them.

If Cohen were to be believed, Sawaki repeatedly criticized the war effort in “subtle” ways on numerous occasions. Here, however, we need to recall a comment made by one of contemporary Japan’s most respected Buddhist scholars, Sueki Fumihiko, concerning D.T. Suzuki: “When we frankly accept Suzuki’s words at face value, we must also consider how, in the midst of the [war] situation as it was then, his words would have been understood.”[6]

This observation equally applies to Sawaki and his fellow Zen leaders. Thus, the critical question that Cohen fails to address is whether Sawaki’s wartime disciples, not to mention the readers of his many wartime articles, were ever motivated to oppose the war due to his alleged antiwar comments. Is there any record that Sawaki’s comments, either oral or written, provoked any political controversy, or repression, or condemnation on the government’s part or on anyone’s part? If there were, Cohen certainly doesn’t present it, nor do I know of any. In other words, even if all of Cohen’s interpretations of Sawaki’s alleged antiwar comments were proven correct, they were either so subtle, or otherwise acceptable, that they had no demonstrable effect on his audiences, his reputation, or his readers.

In this connection, perhaps the most damning evidence Cohen presents in his criticism of my research concerns Sawaki’s reference to “a description of Japan’s main allies, Hitler and Mussolini, as ‘devils from hell’.” To this I can only say, “Wow!” If, in the midst of war, Sawaki really had described the two leaders of Japan’s military allies as “devils from hell” that truly presents Sawaki in a new light. I freely admit it would force a major and positive revision in my understanding of the man. In fact, Sawaki would be, to the best of my knowledge, the only person in all of wartime Japan to have ever done this!

Cohen himself notes his surprise at what he discovered. He writes: “Would not arrest await someone publishing anything even slightly doubtful of the war effort or casting some aspersion on Japan’s allies as “devils” at such a sensitive time in the war?” Still further, Cohen wonders how such a condemnation got by the eyes of wartime censors? “I have been told by some very familiar with the period and Buddhist publishing of the time (1942) that Sawaki would have had to worry about censorship and arrest even for much more mild criticism, but that it is also likely that censors were so overwhelmed with more mainstream and widely read publications that a relatively small Buddhist journal like “Daihōrin” would have garnered only secondary attention.”

Oh, if this were only true! In that case I would be the first to give a full nine bows to Sawaki for both his insight into the nature of Hitler and Mussolini and, even more importantly, for his courage in having denounced them as the devilish personalities they undoubtedly were. I would also bow to Cohen for having brought this important information to light. Alas, when Sawaki’s comments are read in the context of the Buddhist legend he referred to, the meaning is the complete opposite of what Cohen claims.

The actual point Sawaki was making is that Germany and Italy’s attack on France, England and their allies was well-deserved retribution for the manner in which the latter countries had oppressed the former countries in the wake of WW I even while spouting rhetoric about peace and disarmament. That said, rather than going into a detailed explanation of Cohen’s error here, let me invite interested readers to read the related addendum attached to this article. Readers of Japanese will find the relevant passage posted there as well.

Suffice it to say at this point that it is impossible to imagine Sawaki could have successfully criticized Hitler and Mussolini in wartime Japan without serious repercussions. As I detailed in Chapter 11 of Zen War Stories, pp. 204-27, the Criminal Affairs Bureau of the Ministry of Justice was especially worried about the possibility of antiwar, morale-destroying comments made by Buddhist priests and other religious figures. Thus, the idea that the “censors were so overwhelmed. . .” that Sawaki’s comments went unnoticed is simply erroneous.

In Japan’s case there was nothing like a “Censorship Board” through which all publications had to be vetted. Rather, it was the editor(s) of each publication whose personal liberty, if not life, not to mention the continued existence of their publication, was at stake if they dared publish something that was deemed subversive. Knowing this, the editors of each publication took great care to ensure that no questionable writings appeared in their publications, especially as they would be held personally responsible.

Further, as detailed in Zen at War and Zen War Stories, Daihōrin (Great Dharma Wheel), was the largest, pan-Buddhist magazine in wartime Japan. It was at the forefront of publishing articles demonstrating Buddhist support for the war effort. For example, the illustrations accompanying this article date from the magazine’s March 1937 issue, demonstrating that even prior to Japan’s full-scale invasion of China in July 1937 Daihōrin was fully in accord with the Japanese military and eager to demonstrate the practical role Buddhism, particularly Zen, could play in military indoctrination, most especially by instilling a readiness to die in battle.

Daihōrin’s Zen connection is not surprising in that the magazine’s president, Ishihara Shummyō was himself a Sōtō Zen priest. In an article that appeared in the same March 1937 issue, Ishihara had this to say:

Zen is very particular about the need not to stop one’s mind. As soon as flint stone is struck, a spark bursts forth. There is not even the most momentary lapse of time between these two events. If ordered to face right, one simply faces right as quickly as a flash of lightning. This is proof that one’s mind has not stopped.

Zen master Takuan taught . . . that in essence Zen and Bushido were one. He further taught that the essence of the Buddha Dharma was a mind that never stopped. Thus, if one’s name were called, for example “Uemon,” one should simply answer “Yes,” and not stop to consider the reason why one’s name was called. . . .

I believe that if one is called upon to die, one should not be the least bit agitated. On the contrary, one should be in a realm where something called ‘oneself’ does not intrude even slightly. Such a realm is no different from that derived from the practice of Zen.[7]

Those familiar with Sawaki’s wartime writing will readily recognize the similarity in their understanding of Zen’s importance to the Japanese military’s mindset. It is thus not surprising that Sawaki’s wartime articles were so frequently published in this magazine. And even more importantly, there is not the slightest chance that fellow Zen priest Ishihara would have been unable to understand Sawaki’s Zen-related writing. Nor is it conceivable that Sawaki could have inserted some kind of secret or merely ‘subtle’ antiwar message into his articles published in this magazine. Like Sawaki, Ishihara’s own liberty, plus the continued existence of his magazine, depended on a continuous demonstration of support for Japan’s war effort. Laments on the death and destruction caused by war were acceptable in general, but not opposition or criticism of the war in progress. After all, no less a personage than Emperor Hirohito had stated in his December 8, 1941 “Declaration of War on the US and England” that the war was being fought for no other purpose than “to establish eternal peace in East Asia.”

In a similar vein, Japanese authorities would not have made it possible for Sawaki to address repentant political prisoners, or allowed him to travel to, and lecture in, wartime Manchuria, etc. if he had given them the slightest reason to question the content of his message, most especially his support for the war effort and his loyalty to a divine land ruled by a divine emperor. Nor would the Japanese government’s Bureau of Decorations have awarded Sawaki a “Medal of Honor” in the form of a silver cup for “promoting the public interest” on November 3, 1943.

Further, Cohen does not deny that Sakai Tokugen, one of Sawaki’s closest disciples, noted that during the war years Sawaki frequently injected the government’s wartime slogans into the Dharma talks he gave at Daichūji, specifically:

In Sawaki’s lectures on Zen Master Dōgen’s writings, you will find such phrases as ‘the eight corners of the world under one roof’ and ‘the way of the gods’ scattered throughout. At that time we all truly believed in such things as ‘one hundred million [citizens] of one mind’ and ‘self-annihilation for the sake of one’s country.’ We were consumed with the thought of repaying the debt of gratitude we owed the state, and we incessantly feared for the destiny our nation.[8]

Let us also not forget what Sawaki himself claimed to have learned from his own experience on the battlefield while engaging in a “stomach-full of killing”:

Following the end of the fighting I had the opportunity to quietly reflect on my own conduct. I realized then that while as a daredevil I had been second to none, this was nothing more than the greatness of Mori no Ishimatsu, Kunisada Chūji, and other outlaws and champions of the underdog. However, as a disciple of Zen Master Dōgen, I still didn’t measure up. . . . I had been like those who in the act of laying down their lives sought something in return. . . . That is to say, I had been like those who so wanted to become famous, or awarded a posthumous military decoration, that they were ready to lay down their very life to get one. Such an attitude has nothing to do with [Buddhist] liberation from life and death.

Such fellows have simply replaced one thing with another, exchanged one burden for another. They sought honor and fame for themselves through laying down their lives. This is nothing other than the substitution of one thing for another. Even had they succeeded in acquiring these things, one wonders whether they would have been satisfied. In any event, this is what we identify in Buddhism as being endlessly entrapped in the world of desire.

What can be said is that liberation from birth and death does not consist of discarding one’s physical life, but rather, of discarding desire. There are various kinds of desire, including the desire for fame as well as the desire for wealth. Discarding desire, however, means giving up all forms of desire. Religion exists in the renunciation of all forms of desire. This is where the way is to be found. This is where enlightenment is encountered. . . .

Expressed in terms of our Japanese military, it denotes a realm in which wherever the flag of our military goes there is no ordeal too great to endure, nor enemy numbers too numerous [to overcome]. I call this invoking the power of the military flag. Discarding one’s body beneath the military flag is true selflessness.[9] (Emphasis mine)

As a Sōtō Zen priest myself, what I personally find to be most offensive is Sawaki’s claim made in May 1944 that it was Zen Master Dōgen, the 13th century founder of the Sōtō Zen sect in Japan, who first taught the proper mental attitude for the imperial military. Sawaki wrote:

Zen master Dōgen said that we should discard our self. He taught that we should quietly engage in practice having forgotten our Self. Dōgen expressed this in the chapter entitled “Life and Death” of the Shōbōgenzō [A Treasury of the Essence of the True Dharma] as follows: “Simply discard body and mind and cast yourself into the realm of the Buddha. The Buddha will then serve as your guide, and if you follow the guidance given, you will free yourself from life and death, and become a Buddha, without any need to exert yourself either physically or mentally.”

Expressed in different words, this means that the orders of one’s superiors are to be obeyed, regardless of content. It is in doing this that you immediately become faithful retainers of the emperor and perfect soldiers. If you die you will be worshipped as a god in [Shintō] Yasukuni shrine.[10] (Emphasis mine)

In light of the above quotes, it is no surprise that Sōtō Zen sect-affiliated scholar, Hakamaya Noriaki wrote: “When one becomes aware of Sawaki Kōdō’s [wartime] call to ‘Invoke the power of the emperor; invoke the power of the military flag,’ it is enough to send shivers down your spine. . . . Not only was Sawaki not a Buddhist, but he also took up arms against [Sōtō Zen Master] Dōgen himself.”[11] Note, too, that Sawaki directs soldiers to follow their superior’s orders regardless of their content (sono koto no ikan o towazu). This is the same mentality that made suicidal mass “banzai charges,” etc. possible.

Hakamaya, together with fellow Buddhist scholar, Matsumoto Shirō, is the founder of the “Critical Buddhism” movement, encompassing the only concerted attempt by Japanese Buddhist scholars of any sect to understand and critique the doctrinal underpinnings of institutional Buddhism’s wartime support for Japanese aggression. At a June 2014 Buddhist Studies forum held at the International Research Institute for Japanese Culture in Kyoto, Sueki Fumihiko introduced the book written by these two scholars as one of the two most important works written on Japanese Buddhism in the postwar period. The second book he referred to was the Japanese edition of Zen at War, i.e., Zen to Sensō.

For Cohen, however, Hakamaya is, like myself, no more than “a very controversial and radical critic within the Soto school. . . a gadfly.” Clearly, anyone, whether Japanese or Western, who dares to criticize Sawaki becomes a less than human annoyance in Cohen’s eyes, to be attacked or dismissed, with scant consideration of their deeper or overall message. This attitude reflects a failure to appreciate an important dimension of contemporary Japanese Buddhist scholarship, i.e., the need to understand what ‘went wrong’ in wartime Japanese Buddhism if one hopes to prevent it from occurring again.

Accordingly, Cohen seeks to defend quotations like the above on the proper mental attitude for the imperial military. How? By stating that, on the one hand:

“The passage strikes me as, in hindsight, a great misuse of the Teachings of Dogen Zenji.” Nevertheless, Cohen then goes on to defend Sawaki by writing: “(although given that the source of the quote was himself [i.e., Dogen] living in a time of great warfare in 13th Century Japan, with a government in the hands of the Shogun and loyalty to Lord & Emperor a cherished Japanese value even in his day, I entertain that Dogen might actually have agreed with Sawaki!) (Emphasis mine)

Although Dōgen left behind voluminous writings, Cohen does not provide even one piece of written evidence to support his assertion that “. . . Dogen might actually have agreed with Sawaki!” Cohen’s assertion is, in fact, based on nothing more than his own speculation. Such unsupported speculation is the very antithesis of the academic enterprise.

In fact, Dōgen did have something to say about the rulers of his day. Specifically, in the Shukke-kudoku fascicle of his masterwork, the Shōbōgenzō, Dōgen referred to Japan as follows: “In a minor nation in a remote land, although there is a king in name he does not have the virtue of kings; he is unable to confine his greed.” (Translation mine) Thus, nothing could be further from Dōgen’s thought than the wartime propaganda that described Japan as a divine land ruled by a divine emperor, with the attendant right to place “a (Japanese) roof over the eight corners of the world” (hakkō-ichiu).

As for Cohen’s comments on Sawaki just saying and doing the things that any wartime “patriot” would do, it must never be forgotten that Japanese conduct was equally bad, or even worse in some respects, than that of Germany or Italy during WW II. Unfortunately, Westerners typically know little about this because what happened in Asia since the early 1930’s is less taught at school than the events of WWII in Europe.

For example, Sawaki’s advice notwithstanding, the Japanese treated their prisoners much worse than the Nazis, i.e., 27% of POW’s died in Japanese hands compared with 4 per cent of those held in German captivity.

Further, apart from the Russian front, the total number of casualties caused by Japan was higher than those of the Nazis. First, the number of prisoners or slave labor that died in Japanese mines, factories, etc. is comparable to that in Nazi concentration camps. Second, there were an estimated 10 million civilian, and 2.5 million military casualties in China alone. By comparison, Japan lost 1,300,000 soldiers and 672,000 civilians (about 1/3 of whom died in the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki).

While the Nazis exterminated from 5 to 6 million Jews during WWII, this is but half the number of Chinese people killed by Japan from 1937-45 and even before. Additionally, the manner in which civilian Chinese were killed reveals the extreme violence and barbarism Japan’s soldiers were capable of.

Added to this is an estimated 100,000 to 400,000 so-called “comfort women,” i.e., women from all East Asian countries as well as a few Europeans, who were forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese. Apart from the concentration camps, not even the Nazis committed such atrocities as the mass rape and murder of civilians as in Nanjing in December 1937 where the death toll is estimated to have been somewhere between 100,000 to 300,000. In 1945, Manila, too, experienced over 100,000 civilian deaths, not to mention various other Japanese war atrocities. Among these the infamous Japanese Unit 731, a biological warfare lab conducting experiments on human beings, was responsible for more than 200,000 deaths.

Sadly, Westerners, including Western Buddhists, have not cared much about any of this inasmuch as it did not seem to concern them. Nevertheless, even current Japanese Prime Ministers continue to honor, with annual visits to Yasukuni Shrine, etc., the Japanese military leaders who were directly responsible for the deaths of some 12.5 million Chinese. This is despite the fact that these wartime leaders were subsequently convicted and hanged as war criminals by the Allies in the postwar period. By comparison, if a German chancellor were to visit a shrine dedicated to Hitler even once, he or she would no doubt be forced to resign immediately, probably tried and sent to jail. Not so in today’s Japan.

While Sawaki was clearly not personally responsible for the barbarism that accompanied Japan’s aggression, he nevertheless supported the overall Japanese war effort. Thus, it is disappointing to find someone claiming to have distant relatives who perished in Nazi concentration camps who would defend, or make excuses for, someone like Sawaki, a man who so clearly advocated “invoking the power of the military flag” even as the Japanese Imperial Army ruthlessly extended its control throughout Asia.

Nevertheless, Cohen continues his attempt to defend as many of Sawaki’s actions as possible. In his eyes, “. . . Sawaki was a patriotic Japanese who supported his country, its Emperor and its troops in battle during wartime and in no uncertain terms.” Further, nothing more could, or should, be expected of Sawaki because:

Right or wrong, what was seen to the victors as a war of aggression, was felt by many Japanese of the time to be a war of national survival. Although some (many, in fact) Japanese were enthusiastic jingoists encouraging war for the glory of the Japanese empire, most Japanese, with access to limited outside information, thought of the war as a fight for their country’s defense, if not an unavoidable evil . . .

Compare this statement with a true antiwar priest I described in a recent article in Japan Focus entitled “’War is a Crime’: Takenaka Shōgen and Buddhist Resistance in the Asia-Pacific War and Today.” In September 1937, two months after Japan’s full-scale invasion of China, Takenaka said:

War is both criminal and, at the same time, the enemy of humanity; it should be stopped. In both northern and central China, [Japan] should stop with what it has already occupied. War is never a benefit to a nation, rather it is a terrible loss…. From this point of view, I think it would be wise for the state to stop this war.[12]

A month later Takenaka spoke out for a second time:

It looks to me like aggression. From a Mahayanistic point of view, it is improper to deprive either oneself or others of their lives to no purpose, incurring enormous financial costs and loss of life in the process. War is the greatest crime there is…. It would be better to stop the war in such places.”[13]

For having dared to simply say (not write) these words, Takenaka, aged 70, was indicted under Section 99 of the Army Penal Code that forbade “fabrications and wild rumors.” On April 27, 1938 the Nagoya High Court rendered its verdict, a four-month prison sentence, suspended for three years. Like Germany, wartime Japan was truly a totalitarian state.

In Takenaka we have an example of a Shin sect Buddhist priest from a small temple in the countryside who had no difficulty in recognizing Japan’s invasion of China as “aggression” on the basis of his Buddhist faith. Government propaganda notwithstanding, to suggest that Sawaki was any less capable of understanding the nature of Japan’s invasion of China is to insult the memory of an undoubtedly intelligent man.

Cohen similarly suggests that Sawaki was somehow coerced into writing his vehemently pro-war statements in 1944 as follows: “. . .under the much tighter censorship rules in place in 1944 Japan, any publication would have been expected to contain such strong, “over the top” patriotic statements. . .” This implies that Sawaki tailored his speech to match the requirements of a wartime government facing defeat. In other words, either Sawaki submitted to the will of the state by writing “over the top” articles or he lacked the courage to say and write what he really thought. Once again, we find Cohen denigrating the very man who on more than one occasion demonstrated that outspokenness and courage were two personality traits he had in abundance.

Takenaka and the handful of true antiwar Buddhist priests have yet another important lesson to teach us, i.e., if one were willing to be imprisoned or worse, it was possible to speak out against the war. As I detail in Zen at War, these antiwar priests are the true “heroes of the faith” just as in Nazi Germany you had such men as Martin Niemöller, Dietrich Bonhoeffer and others.

Cohen claims that Sawaki should also be recognized as an antiwar figure because he described war as a hellish enterprise, lamented the accompanying bloodshed, etc. If that were true, then D.T. Suzuki’s Rinzai master, Shaku Sōen, should be considered the very paradigm of a modern, anti-war Zen priest. Readers of Zen at War will recall that Shaku volunteered to serve as a military chaplain in the Russo-Japanese War. Shaku’s wartime Diary of Subjugating Demons (Gōma Nisshi) contains numerous passages describing just how hellish the war was. One representative passage reads:

Everywhere on and below the mountain, the corpses of enemy soldiers were scattered in disorder and piled up high. Some had heads smashed in, the blue blood flowing out copiously; others had bones broken and flesh crushed, their guts staining the ground; others still held their guns, their hair standing on end with rage. Others had wholly swollen bodies, festering and emitting stench. They numbered four or five hundred, and the sight was indescribable.

My eyes spun and my nose stung; confronted with this [scene], I forgot my hostility, and a feeling of pity welled up in my breast. The Buddha preached four types of suffering in the human realm, among which the most painful is the suffering of encountering that which we despise. . . . I descended the mountain with my eyes covered, reciting the Four Universal Bodhisattva Vows as I went. By the roadside, I mourned the war dead, and then I returned to the encampment.[14]

Here the question must be asked, what did Shaku actually do after he returned to the encampment, i.e., what effect did this hellish scene have on him? Did he abandon the chaplaincy and return to Japan, or become a pacifist, etc.? No, he simply continued to fulfill the mission that had brought him to the battlefield in the first place:

I wished to have my faith tested by going through the greatest horrors of life, but I also wished to inspire, if I could, our valiant soldiers with the ennobling thoughts of the Buddha, so as to enable them to die on the battlefield with the confidence that the task in which they are engaged is great and noble. I wished to convince them of the truths that this war is not a mere slaughter of their fellow-beings, but that they are combating an evil, and that, at the same time, corporeal annihilation means a rebirth of [the] soul, not in heaven indeed, but here among ourselves. I did my best to impress these ideas upon the soldiers’ hearts.[15]

Note, too, that Shaku’s hellish descriptions of war were published at the end of 1904, i.e., in the midst of the Russo-Japanese War that concluded in September 1905. Shaku was neither censored nor criticized, let alone punished, for his honest descriptions of battlefield horrors or the pity he felt even for enemy soldiers, albeit dead enemy soldiers. First and foremost, however, Shaku continued to do his duty as a chaplain, i.e., to “inspire, if I could, our valiant soldiers with the ennobling thoughts of the Buddha, . . .” Yet, even while doing so, Shaku continued his descriptions of war as evil and hellish:

War is an evil and a great one, indeed. But war against evils must be unflinchingly prosecuted till we attain the final aim. In the present hostilities, into which Japan has entered with great reluctance, she pursues no egotistic purpose, but seeks the subjugation of evils hostile to civilization, peace, and enlightenment. She deliberated long before she took up arms, as she was aware of the magnitude and gravity of the undertaking. But the firm conviction of the justice of her cause has endowed her with an indomitable courage, and she is determined to carry the struggle to the bitter end.

Here is the price we must pay for our ideals – a price paid in streams of blood and the sacrifice of many thousands of living bodies. However determined may be our resolution to crush evils, our hearts tremble at the sight of this appalling scene. . . . Were it not for the consolation that these sacrifices are not bought for an egotistic purpose, but are an inevitable step toward the final realization enlightenment, how could I, poor mortal, bear these experiences of a hell let loose on earth. . . . Mere lamentation not only bears no fruit, it is the product of egotism and has to be shunned by every enlightened mind and heart.[16] (Emphasis mine)

Note there can be no question concerning the meaning of Shaku’s two preceding quotations since they were translated by D.T. Suzuki and included in an English language book entitled: Sermons of a Buddhist Abbot, published in 1906. Significantly, the description of war as “a hell let loose on earth” became a recurrent theme in Japanese Buddhist discussions on warfare from this time onwards, a theme concerning which government authorities raised no objection. Over and over again, we see that the ‘egolessness’ of the enterprise is the key that unlocks the door to Buddhist support for warfare. This alleged egolessness was, in reality, the ‘fig leaf’ used to disguise Japan’s colonial ambitions while concurrently motivating Japanese soldiers to sacrifice their lives in the undertaking. In claiming this, Shaku truly was a worthy precursor of Sawaki!

Given this background, coupled with his own battlefield experiences, it is not the least surprising that Sawaki shared Shaku’s view of war as a hellish enterprise. Yet this shared view certainly doesn’t demonstrate that Sawaki would have had any reason to subsequently oppose Japan’s fifteen long years of war, a war that actually began as early as 1931 with the Imperial military’s takeover of Manchuria. On the contrary, Sawaki would have had every reason to support this war just as Shaku had done in his time.

While Cohen clearly spent a great deal of time researching Sawaki’s wartime record, he has failed to present any statements in which Sawaki, unlike Takenaka and other true antiwar priests, clearly expressed his opposition to Japan’s wartime aggression, most especially against China. In this connection, it should be noted that only the grossly deluded would describe Japan’s 1937 full-scale invasion of China, a fellow Asian country, as a fight against “Western imperialism.”

To the best of my knowledge, the first time Sawaki expressed criticism of Japan’s war effort is a postwar statement introduced in my recent article on Sweeping Zen entitled, “The “Non-Self” as a Killer.” Sawaki is quoted as saying:

With the Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895) and the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905), we enlarged Japanese territory and annexed Korea. We believed that it really happened. But when we lost World War Two, we lost everything and tuely [sic] understood that we had only incurred the enimity [sic] of other countries.

People often ask about loyalty, but I wonder if they know the direction of their loyalty and their actions. I myself was a soilder [sic] during the Russo-Japanese War and fought hard on the battlefield. But since we had lost what we had gained, I can see that what we did was useless. There is absolutely no need to wage war.[17]

Note that this statement was made in postwar Japan, i.e., after Japan’s numerous wartime atrocities, such as the infamous “Rape of Nanjing,” had become well known. Nevertheless, the only concrete reason Sawaki gave for opposing the war was that Japan had lost its colonial possessions, i.e., “since we had lost what we had gained, I can see that what we did was useless.”

While I would certainly agree there is no need to wage war, the question that should to be addressed is what of the millions of human beings who lost their lives in this “useless” endeavor? Whose responsibility is that? Did Sawaki ever take personal responsibility, or repent, the “over the top” words (according to Cohen) he expressed during the wartime era?

Despite his extensive research and detailed writing, Cohen succeeds in creating no more than a ‘straw man’ in his defense of Sawaki’s wartime record. Or to borrow an old adage, no matter how much “subtlety” or “context” Cohen adds to the mix, “it is impossible to turn a sow’s ear into a silk purse.”

Sawaki’s actions are all too representative of a typical “patriotic” religious leader in a country at war. In that sense he is not to be singled out as having acted more egregiously than many others. In fact, by explicitly calling for the humane treatment of both war prisoners and enemy civilians he may be considered a cut above the others. However, as a man who pledged himself to uphold the Buddhist precepts, Sawaki remains an abject failure, most especially for having so fervently invoked the Buddhadharma to justify killing on a massive scale. Without clear evidence to the contrary, no number of explanations, excuses, or flawed understandings on Cohen’s part can alter that.

Conclusion

Let me first thank readers for having read both this as well as Cohen’s article(s). I can easily imagine that these articles may appear to be little more than yet another tedious “ugly spat” within the Zen family. Perhaps the best that can be said about this spat is that, for once, it doesn’t involve matters related to sex! Nevertheless, it is clearly related to one of Buddhism’s three major ‘poisons’ – ill will.

Nevertheless, I suggest these and related articles raise a far more important question. That is to say, they force us to frankly and honestly recognize the ‘dark side’ of Buddhism’s commitment to peace. This is especially important for Western Zen adherents who must now recognize that our Japanese predecessors, Sawaki included, transmitted what amounts to a “poisoned chalice,” poisoned, that is, by the many war-condoning rationales stemming from the alleged “unity of Zen and (a physical) sword.”

Given this, the critical question becomes whether Western Buddhists in the Zen tradition will continue to drink from this chalice, defending and making excuses for the poison it contains, or, on the contrary, will use this occasion to rededicate themselves to a Buddhadharma that does not endorse warfare and the deaths of multiple thousands, even millions, of their fellow human beings? I leave this question for each of my readers to answer.

Addendum

As promised in the article above, the following is a detailed explanation of Cohen’s flawed understanding of Sawaki’s comments identifying both Hitler and Mussolini as “devils from Hell.” While I begin with my own translation of the passage Cohen refers to, those readers able to read Japanese will find the original text at the conclusion.

I received a letter from a man who is now in French Indo-China writing about the beginning of WW II in Europe. [He wrote]: “War in Europe has begun again. It is just like a Children’s Limbo (Sai no Kawara).” [Calling it] a Children’s Limbo is interesting. It made me recall a Buddhist hymn I heard in my youth sung by an old woman with a tinkling voice full of lament: “Piling up ten pebbles I miss father; piling up twenty pebbles, I miss mother; piling up thirty pebbles I miss home; brothers and sisters trying to help me. . .”.

Looking to the left or right, we see France, Germany and their allies doing such things as holding peace conferences, promoting disarmament, building the Maginot line, claiming that this year they will build only so many warships, and so on. At the same time they collect war reparations and impose various [economic] sanctions [on Germany and Italy], all the while thinking: “Piling up ten pebbles I miss father; piling up twenty pebbles, I miss mother; piling up thirty pebbles I miss home. . .”

Well, England and France have acted like this. And then suddenly a gust of wind blew, and demons from hell appeared. One of them was a red demon named Hitler and the other a blue demon named Mussolini. They reached out with their iron clubs named “blitzkrieg,” saying, “You’ve been selfishly demanding too much!” [End of quotation]

In order to understand this passage, we first need to recognize that Sawaki’s remarks are based on the legend of Sai no Kawara attributed to Japan’s Pure Land sects in the 14th and 15th centuries. According to this legend, children who die prematurely are sent to the underworld for judgment just as are all sentient beings. There, the ten Kings of Hell review their life and pronounce judgment, assigning them to be reborn in one of the six realms of existence.

In the case of children, however, there is a difference. While children may be pure, they nevertheless have had no chance to accrue good karma. Further, they are guilty of having caused great sorrow to their parents through their untimely death and must be punished for having done so. As unfair as it might seem to Western sensibilities, their punishment is to be sent to Sai no Kawara, i.e., the riverbed of souls in purgatory, where they are forced to remove their clothes and labor for their salvation. Their labor consists of building small stone towers, piling pebble upon pebble, in the hope of one day ascending these towers into Buddha’s paradise.

However, in the midst of their efforts, the old hell hag Shozuka no Baba summons demons from hell who, upon arrival, scatter their stones and attempt to beat the children with iron clubs. This further punishment is due to the children’s arrogant belief that they can gain entrance into Buddha’s paradise through their own efforts. If this additional punishment for children once again offends Western sensibilities, it must be remembered that this legend is, after all, related to the Pure Land (Jōdo) sects of Buddhism which teach that, in the current age of so-called ‘degenerate Dharma’ (mappō), there is nothing humans can do to achieve their own salvation. All efforts to do so are labeled ‘self-power’ (jiriki), and such arrogant efforts are bound to fail.

In this context, it is important to note that the demons arriving to knock down the children’s stone towers are not ‘evil’, but simply executing the task they have been assigned. It is the children’s own arrogance that brings them further misfortune.

In fact, in Japanese Buddhist folklore, demons (oni) have a soft heart despite their fierce appearance. When treated with respect they can even turn into fiercely loyal and protecting deities. For example, the 7th century founder of Buddhist esoteric mountain asceticism in Japan, i.e., En no Gyōja, is said to have been protected by two oni, one in front of him and one behind, whenever he went into the mountains to engage in ascetic practices. In fact, following an old but now disappearing Japanese custom, I personally have a ceramic figure of an oni attached to the outside of my toilet door whose assigned task is to ‘protect’ those using the facilities.

Further, since this is a Buddhist legend, there is, in the end, no need to worry about the children’s safety, for despite their transgressions, they will ultimately be saved by the ‘other power’ (tariki) of the Buddhist protector of children, i.e., a bodhisattva named Jizō (Skt. Ksitigarbha). Jizō arrives on the scene just in time to rescue the children, typically by hiding them in the sleeves of his robe.[18]

In light of this legend, it is clear that Sawaki’s reference to Hitler and Mussolini has none of the Christian connotation of the words “devils from Hell.” I have translated the word oni as “demon” based on the authoritative Kenkyusha dictionary’s translation, i.e., “demons, ogres or fiends.” Any of these translations is much better than the word “devil” exactly because of Christian view of a ‘devil’ as ‘evil incarnate’.

In a Buddhist context, the demons from hell are simply doing their duty in punishing children who deserve to be punished. Thus, Sawaki describes Hitler and Mussolini as demons from Hell because they are likewise doing their duty in punishing France, England and their allies for their oppression of Germany and Italy even while the former countries mouthed slogans of peace and disarmament. In short, karmically speaking, France, England and their allies had it coming to them; Hitler and Mussolini were merely the agents, demons if you will, who rightly punished them for their arrogant actions! When properly understood, what concern would these words have been to wartime Japanese authorities?

For Cohen to turn the meaning of this passage into proof of Sawaki’s antiwar stance would be comic if he himself did not take it so seriously, imagining he had discovered the undeniable proof that I sought to hide from readers. I can only hope Cohen’s position was no more than the result of his ignorance of the Pure Land school of Buddhism and its associated folklore, coupled with a limited understanding of Buddhist Japanese.

I could go on to point out additional errors of fact and opinion in Cohen’s writings, but I will not further impose on my longsuffering readers except to note that Cohen refers to French Indonesia in the first sentence of this quotation. Of course, such a country never existed inasmuch as today’s Indonesia was previously ruled by the Dutch, not the French, and was therefore known as the “Dutch East Indies.” The correct translation of the relevant Japanese word, Futsuin, is “French Indochina” which was the Japanese-occupied area from which Sawaki received the letter he described. [End]

[3] Quoted in Victoria, “Zen as a Cult of Death in the Wartime Writings of D.T. Suzuki,” The Asia-Pacific Journal, Vol. 11, Issue 30, No. 5. August 5, 2013. This article is available on the Web here: http://japanfocus.org/-Brian-Victoria/3973 (accessed 26 September 2014).

[4] Warner, “Gudo Nishijima Roshi: Japanese Buddhism in W.W. II,” available on the Web here.

[17] Available on the Web at: http://antaiji.org/archives/eng/hk20.shtml (accessed on 26 June 2014).

[18] For further background on the Jizō figure in Japanese Buddhist folklore see the entry by the same name in the online “Dictionary of Japanese Buddhist Statuary” available at: http://www.onmarkproductions.com/html/jizo1.shtml.

]]>http://sweepingzen.com/the-end-of-a-zen-buddhist-myth/feed/51“ZEN AT WAR” BRIAN VICTORIA: THROWING BOMBS AT KODO – by Jundo Cohenhttp://sweepingzen.com/zen-at-war-brian-victoria-throwing-bombs-at-kodo-by-jundo-cohen/
http://sweepingzen.com/zen-at-war-brian-victoria-throwing-bombs-at-kodo-by-jundo-cohen/#commentsThu, 02 Oct 2014 12:14:07 +0000http://sweepingzen.com/?p=99541I have written a 38 page report examining “Zen At War” author Brian Victoria’s use and misuse of quotes, original sources, translations and other materials in his writings regarding “Homeless” Kodo Sawaki. It is available in PDF or ONLINE. Because of the length, I have highlighted and boldfaced sections of the report of special note. However, I ...

]]>I have written a 38 page report examining “Zen At War” author Brian Victoria’s use and misuse of quotes, original sources, translations and other materials in his writings regarding “Homeless” Kodo Sawaki.

Because of the length, I have highlighted and boldfaced sections of the report of special note. However, I encourage everyone concerned with the topic to read the report in full. As well, I present below key sections and passages which are representative of the content.

Neither Sawaki nor Victoria come off well in the report, but it is my contention that Victoria has misreported and bent the facts regarding Sawaki’s wartime writings and their meaning. The picture of Kodo Sawaki, and the views he expressed, are much more subtle than Victoria lets on and wants to let us see. I write:

“Zen At War” author Brian Victoria took on the worthwhile task of uncovering a dark period in Buddhist history, shining a light on ugly interpretations of Buddhist doctrine which encourage violence and war. In doing so, he has performed a true service. However, along the way Brian has cherry-picked data, exaggerated, imposed extreme interpretations, kept information from his readers and taken quotes so far out of context that their meanings are sometimes quite opposite. In doing so, Victoria deserves our attention and criticism as well. … Two wrongs do not make a right. Yes, we might criticize Sawaki. But we should also criticize Brian Victoria for his methods of manipulation in telling the tale.

The picture of Kodo Sawaki I present is not monotone:

In the heat of wartime, Kodo Sawaki frequently expressed views in support of his country, combining Buddhist and Zen Doctrines, soldiering, mercy and military duty, Kannon and the Emperor in ways that may be criticized and shocking to people today. … [However] the situation with Sawaki is complicated. On the one hand, there is no doubt that Sawaki was a patriotic Japanese who supported his country, its Emperor and its troops in battle during wartime and in no uncertain terms. He interpreted various Buddhist and Zen doctrines in order to do so in a way many of us (I am one) may find often wrong and shocking. On the other hand, we have a man who – even during the height of World War II – spoke out against war itself, its futility, and underlined the need for soldiers compelled into battle to act with compassion, honor, selflessness and mercy to their opponents as the situation will allow. … Sawaki also used Buddhist or Zen doctrines to counsel for the avoidance of war and, if there is to be a war nonetheless, the avoidance of excess and reckless violence. If Sawaki was supportive of Japan’s effort during the war, it seems reluctantly (if sometimes too passionately) and with a sense that Japan was fighting a war for its own survival and defense.

Unfortunately, in his attempt to paint Kodo Sawaki black, Brian Victoria has confused loyalty to one’s country with rabid militarism, and has failed to sufficiently emphasize the anti-war aspects of Sawaki’s personality. Victoria has done this by neglecting or taking out of context quotes (to such a degree that one must sometimes consider the intentionality behind his doing so) which otherwise show that Sawaki had deep reservations about all war, including Japan’s wars throughout history. Victoria has surgically removed quotes so as to omit material showing that, even in writings most supportive of his country and its troops in times of war, Sawaki was frequently and simultaneously a strong and outspoken critic.

In particular, I focus on a 1942 essay by Sawaki that contains the infamous statement, “It is this precept on not killing life that wields the sword. It is this precept on not killing life that throws the bomb. ” Victoria has repeated it through the years in books, writings and lectures as solid proof of Sawaki’s rabid militarism and moral depravity. What other interpretation could be possible? However:

Mr. Victoria has never alerted his readers that the very same “wields the sword” essay by Sawaki criticizes war as futile, calls Hitler a “devil from hell” and speaks of the reasons for war as an “empty” delusion. Mr. Victoria never mentions that, in the passages immediately prior to the cited quote, Sawaki criticizes killing as leading to misery for the killer, questions the justification for killing life, speaks of killing a living being as killing Buddha, and states that love of the enemy as oneself is necessary for soldiers compelled to defend a country and its people. … We find Sawaki cautioning soldiers to treat even their enemy with mercy, to not plunder, pillage or employ reckless violence, and to fight with lament and only in defense of social order and the people. It is only then, expresses Sawaki, when defensive war is undertaken in protection of people and society, that one might say “the Precept on Not Killing wields the sword … throws the bomb” for the poor soldier finding himself thrown into such a fight.

One can still disagree with Sawaki’s stance that a Buddhist, if called to war for the defense of the nation and acting with mercy as possible even on the battlefield, would be acting in keeping with the Precepts. However, that is a separate question from why Mr. Victoria just left all the surrounding sentences out as if his readers had no right or need to hear and appraise them regarding Sawaki’s intent. Why does Victoria edit and omit in order to disguise from his readers the more complex picture? Do not we who are Victoria’s readers have a right to see Sawaki’s words without deletion and judge for ourselves?

Here are a few surrounding words by Sawaki that Victoria omitted from that essay:

And then, should such a person enter into battle, love of the enemy is the same as an ally, and personal gain and the benefit of others are in accord. There is simply no such thing as simply killing an enemy soldier just recklessly. Further, plundering, pillaging and the like will not happen.

Doing battle in such way, one puts oneself to stand with that land. One does the most one can to protect the people who reside in that land. … To cast away one’s own life as if something of little value, and to take pity for the lives of others as if the same as oneself, this is to have transcended the border between other people and oneself, and for the first time is the Precept on Not Killing Life.

Sawaki also makes clear in the essay, although Victoria never mentions it, that war (including Japan’s great wars of the past) is fruitless. He alludes to an old Japanese story of the spirits of dead children compelled to make endless piles of stones in Hades, only to have them knocked over again and again.

Why do we kill? Why do we have to kill? Just what could the reason be that we end up having to kill? And “life”, just what is this “life”?

If we say that “life” is also empty, then the reasons for having to kill are also empty. If we look over the length of human history, everything is just empty. At some time, some battle is won. Looking back from 1000 years later, the [famous war in Japanese history between] the Genji and Heike clans was just so. The battles of the Hogen and Heiji Disturbances [between rival partisans of the 12th Century] were also just like that. In these, “by reason of what Karmic relation did they cut down his life?” I have no idea what is their meaning. … However, if we forget to remember their emptiness, and instead think that these things actually exist, we end up doing things all out for all our life and worth. … And so it is. Reflecting on whatever battles have happened during any era of time in the history of this world, that is just the piling up of stones at the banks of hell.

In my report, I touch on another famous quote by Sawaki in which he recounts, as a young man many decades earlier in the Russian-Japanese war, running into battle :

My comrades and I participated in the Russo-Japanese War and gorged ourselves on killing people. If we had done this under normal conditions (heijō) there would have been a big fuss (taihen na hanashi). These days, newspapers often talk about exterminating the enemy here and there or raking them with machinegun fire. It sounds just like they’re describing some kind of cleaning.

Newspapers talk about such things as mowing down the remaining enemy using a machinegun to spray them with. If this were done to fellows relaxing in the heart of [Tokyo’s] Ginza area, i.e., strafing them as if they were animals or something, it would be a big deal. … …

I attempt to show that, in this quote, Sawaki is neither bragging nor lamenting his lack of efficiency in killing as Victoria tries to present him. Rather, the tone is thoroughly that of an older man looking back with disgust at the actions of his youth decades earlier, disgust that such actions were rewarded with praise and a pension, disgust at machine-like slaughter, and disgust that killing human beings is treated like some kind of cleaning. Victoria again removes the statement from context, and imposes the worst possible tone and meaning such that a statement in regret and criticism is presented as a statement of nostalgia and near celebration.

Next, I will present two sections from the report in detail, as they demonstrate how Victoria so often miscasts and omits important material and context. I ask everyone to read them closely. An understanding of these sections will show the reader what is being done by Victoria, time and again, with so many other quotes and stories in his writing:

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VI – THE REST OF WHAT WAS SAID TO STUDENTS

Several other quotes used in [Victoria’s Essay “Zen Masters on the Battlefield (Part 1)“] do not include immediately surrounding material from their cited sources which provide important or very different context. Victoria writes this:

Although Sawaki never fought again, his support for the unity of Zen and war continued unabated. This is attested to by any number of his words and deeds during and prior to the Asia-Pacific War. For example, in early 1937 Sawaki was a professor of Buddhist Studies at Sōtō Zen sect-affiliated Komazawa University in Tokyo. Although Japan would not begin its full-scale invasion of China until July of that year, students were becoming worried about their futures as they sensed full-scale war approaching. At this juncture Sawaki addressed an assembly of Komazawa students preparing for the Sōtō Zen priesthood as follows:

There is at present no need for you students to be perplexed by questions concerning the relationship of religion to the state. Instead you should continue to practice zazen and devote yourself wholeheartedly to the Buddha Dharma. Should you fail to do this, and, instead, start to waver in your practice, when it comes time to defend your country in the future you are unlikely to be able to do so zealously.

As this quotation makes clear, Sawaki saw no conflict between devotion to the Buddha Dharma and defense of one’s country, even when, as in this case, that “defense” meant the unprovoked, full-scale invasion of a neighboring country. In fact, it appears that Sawaki regarded dedication to Zen training as the basis for a similar dedication to military service.

Although Victoria cites the source of the quote (Tanaka, Sawaki Kōdō– Kono Koshin no Hito, v. 2, p. 462), a biography of Sawaki by a long time student, the book quotes Sawaki describing very different circumstances with many additional words on events, all omitted by Victoria [shown in BOLDFACE]:

[Sawaki said,] “School Head Omori was speaking to the students graduating from the [religion] department, giving just some talk emphasizing loyalty to the ruler and patriotism (忠君愛国), so I made the statement in order to correct (訂正) that.” …

“Even without worrying about loyalty to the ruler and patriotism, if you just sit Zazen wholeheartedly, this is a way to fundamentally help not only the people of the nation, but all the ordinary people of the human race. People who just pay lip service to patriotism are sometimes just doing it for their own material success, advancement, and name. That is as if these folks are selling loyalty and patriotism like a business.

Zen priests, let’s do Zazen. Leave talking about patriotism to the soldiers in the army. The soldiers are the ones who are getting paid for that.

There is no need to voice words about patriotism. Zazen is the real way to help the people of the nation. Let’s just keep quiet and just do that. It is said, “This is the real way to say it silently, Be prudent and do not forget”. (Page 171 LINK)

Later, the book’s author adds:

The war was drawing close, and the day when the students would be drafted for service was drawing ever nearer. School Head Omori Zenkai stood in front of the students from Komazawa’s [religion] department and gave them guidance with some cut and dried point “At this vital time for the country, you must have resolve to rise up in defense of the nation.” Kodo was thinking that the effect of those clichés would be to send the students off in a bad direction, so he couldn’t stay quiet, and got up on the podium to correct the school head’s pronouncements, just as was said earlier (on page 171 of this book). The reason I am raising the story again now is that he wished to separate Buddhist Practice from the determination to be worried about the nation, and to settle the concerns of the students who were standing confused between those two poles.

Kodo gave this guidance, “There is at present no need for you students to be perplexed by questions concerning the relationship of religion to the state. Instead you should continue to practice zazen and devote yourself wholeheartedly to the Buddha Dharma. Should you fail to do this, and, instead, start to waver in your practice, when it comes time to defend your country in the future you are unlikely to be able to do so fully. “…

“Saying [popular patriotic slogans like] “loyalty to the ruler and patriotism” and saying “eight corners under one sky” (八纮一宇), “work selflessly for the nation” (減私奉公) for the fellows here is to fully devote yourself to Buddhism, and to concentrate on your Practice alone. Please have trust that doing that alone just like that is a true power to manifest patriotism” (Page 462 LINK)

And so, Victoria twists Kodo’s words to mean, “As this quotation makes clear, Sawaki saw no conflict between devotion to the Buddha Dharma and defense of one’s country,” rather different from what was actually being said. Further, where in such statements is any hint that Sawaki was advocating in any way or so no conflict between the Buddha Dharma and what he realized was an “unprovoked, full-scale invasion” as Victoria claims? Thus, Victoria did not quote the additional and surrounding lines from the book. Would doing so have weakened his point?

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VIII – THE MOST MYSTERIOUS CLAIM OF ALL?

Next, “Zen Masters on the Battlefield (Part 1)” contains a very strong claim, about which I have twice asked Brian to provide his source (one in a private email, once publicly in the comments section of SweepingZen). He has not replied to either. Nor does he provide any footnote or other description of the source of this statement.

The training center at Daichūji continued in operation until the fall of 1944 when it closed in order to accommodate children being evacuated from the cities due to Allied bombing. In spite of the danger, Sawaki returned to live in Tokyo at a Komazawa university-affiliated student dormitory. However, due to the worsening war situation, this dormitory was closed in March 1945. Sawaki then accepted an invitation to live at the home of the former Superintendent-General of the Metropolitan Police, Maruyama Tsurukichi.

Maruyama extended this invitation because of Sawaki’s longtime cooperation with Japanese police officials, part of whose wartime job was to apprehend and imprison anyone suspected of being opposed to the government and its war effort. From 1938 onwards Sawaki found time to give talks to those “thought offenders” (shisō-han) who had been freed from prison following disavowal of their previous anti-war views but were still under police supervision. He also went into prisons holding such offenders in order to convince them to cooperate with the prosecution of the war.

Sawaki was viewed as being particularly good at this kind of work not least because his own poverty-stricken childhood had contributed to a down-to-earth attitude and an ability to identify with offenders. For example, he typically began his talks with a description of his own one-month imprisonment at age eighteen when he had been mistakenly arrested as a pickpocket. Furthermore, in describing his military service Sawaki downplayed his heroism by saying: “Although I was decorated with the ‘Order of the Golden Kite’ for my meritorious deeds during the Russo-Japanese War, it was just a question of being in the right place at the right time – a time when a lot of killing was going on. I was lucky – that’s all.”12

The citation at the end, footnote 12, seems to point to page 172 of the already mentioned book by Kodo’s student, Tadeo Tanaka, entitled “Sawaki Kōdō – Kono Koshin no Hito, v. 2”,

The book describes a connection to Superintendant Maruyama, but through one of his daughters. The 65 year old Sawaki had been released from hospital for an ulcer with few places to go under war conditions. That daughter had been a long time student of Sawaki, and I do not see mention of further relationship with Maruyama. (Page 368 LINK).

More troubling is what seems to be the description of Sawaki’s activities “to convince [thought offenders] to cooperate with the prosecution of the war.” It would be good of Victoria to disclose the source of this statement. Instead, pages 172 contains only the following information:

In 1940, right after this author [Tanaka] moved to Tokyo, [I] was under watch under the Thought Criminals’ Protection and Supervision Law, and I got a chance to talk about their personal feelings with 40 or 50 so-called “renunciants” [転向者; people who had been forced to renounce their previous beliefs] who were in the Tokyo area being prosecuted under the same law. The place was Sojiji Monastery in Tsurumi [near Yokohama].

When I went to the meeting room, Roshi was in the middle of a lecture in front of the group of so-called renunciants. With inexpressible feelings, I lent an ear. He was saying, “When I was in the Russian-Japanese War, I received the Golden Kite Medal for my service. But it was only because the time and place for killing people happened to be right. Just what was that, just some fluke.” It was the nostalgic big old voice that I was so used to listening to. Some senior official monks who were there seemed to be feeling nervous.

When the lecture was over, the Roshi was sitting formally together with the listeners. I went to the Roshi’s side and apologized for being out of touch for so long, and that in truth for one year I had been in jail (留置所) on a wrongful suspicion of being one member of the Popular Front [Movement], and I told him that I had been thrown into detention prison for a year. Roshi said only one thing then, “thank you for your hard labors” (ご苦労さん). After that came the time for my lecture. With Roshi in front of me, gathering my courage, I spoke of myself. I expressed that my having been able to first meet Kodo Sawaki Roshi was what Zen folks call one great bit of Karma. (Page 172-3 LINK)

Another section of the book, after describing Sawaki’s visit to Manchuria, states:

Roshi also went to hospitals to see patients suffering from leprosy, to see prisoners in prison and the like, and went to places where people were so poor that they didn’t even have clothes to wear to help them. (Page 339 LINK)

Victoria cites page 172 as his source, so it is not clear at all where he could come up with statements such as that Sawaki engaged in “longtime cooperation with police officials”, let alone with any connection to their work to “apprehend and imprison anyone suspected of being opposed to the government and its war effort”. As Victoria claims, Sawaki seems to have given talks to “thought offenders” (shisō-han) who had been freed from prison following disavowal of their previous anti-war views but were still under police supervision, and he went into prisons. But where is the source of Victoria’s implication that Sawaki went “in order to convince them to cooperate with the prosecution of the war”? My only supposition is that Victoria has cleverly or accidently worded the sentences, which actually mean “Sawaki found time to give talks to those “thought offenders” (shisō-han) who had been freed from prison following disavowal of their previous anti-war views but were still under police supervision. He also went into prisons [which prisons, without anything to do with Sawaki] were holding some such prisoners in order to convince them to cooperate with the prosecution of the war.” However, Victoria’s wording implies that Sawaki was doing the convincing. That “convincing” seems rather peculiar given the content of the conversations reported above.

Victoria also phrases one included statement by Sawaki in an interesting way: “it was just a question of being in the right place at the right time – a time when a lot of killing was going on. I was lucky – that’s all.” By this phrasing, it sounds as if Sawaki is celebrating his good luck and pleasure to have been able to kill people, rather than merely saying he received a medal for the fluke of being someplace where he had to kill people.

If Brian will contact me and, as I have previously requested, provide the sources for his additional statements and claims for these quotes, I will be happy to amend this essay.

====================

At the end of my report, I comment on some other minor tactics by Brian. I say the following. Should he deem to respond to this post and my report, I hope he will stick to addressing why so much contextual material was omitted or mispresented by him, and not divert the conversation. I wrote:

something I fully expect to see in Brian’s response to this article:
His tendency to respond with long, off-the-point essays focusing on issues unrelated to the central points under discussion, filled with inflammatory quotes from unrelated people to the person under discussion (e.g., when the subject is Sawaki, linking him to what the unrelated Yasutani said), focusing perhaps on a few more debatable points made in a critique while simply ignoring and not answering
any of the major criticisms and charges leveled against him. Watch and you shall see. Let’s hope he will instead address all the central questions here.

Brian Victoria has done a real service in uncovering a time in Buddhist history deserving close attention, reflection, criticism and regret. Yet Brian Victoria’s methods in doing so also deserve close scrutiny and criticism. One wrong does not excuse another, especially when the reputations of people are at stake.

]]>http://sweepingzen.com/zen-at-war-brian-victoria-throwing-bombs-at-kodo-by-jundo-cohen/feed/23Eight Ways GUDO WAFU NISHIJIMA Will Help Change ZEN BUDDHISMhttp://sweepingzen.com/eight-ways-gudo-wafu-nishijima-will-help-change-zen-buddhism/
http://sweepingzen.com/eight-ways-gudo-wafu-nishijima-will-help-change-zen-buddhism/#commentsSat, 08 Mar 2014 01:01:15 +0000http://sweepingzen.com/?p=98174My Teacher, GUDO WAFU NISHIJIMA ROSHI, died this month, age 94. In manner, he was a soft spoken, gentle, conservative man of his times, born nearly a century ago in Taisho era Japan. In action, he was a perceptive visionary of the future of Buddhism, a great critic of the state of Zen in modern ...

]]>My Teacher, GUDO WAFU NISHIJIMA ROSHI, died this month, age 94. In manner, he was a soft spoken, gentle, conservative man of his times, born nearly a century ago in Taisho era Japan. In action, he was a perceptive visionary of the future of Buddhism, a great critic of the state of Zen in modern Japan and an outspoken Buddhist reformer (even if largely ignored by the Zen establishment). His students are not all cut of the same cloth, not by any means. Yet I believe his legacy will carry on through many of us in the following eight ways and more.

In a series of essays in the coming weeks, I hope to expand on each of these points. I will not assert that all are original ideas to Nishijima alone. There are many other folks these days who share such views to varying degrees. Nonetheless, what was unique about Nishijima Roshi was how thoroughly and energetically he called for a new vision of Zen Buddhism. Suchness transcends time, place and change, while Buddhist Truth is not dependent on outer wrappings. Yet, Buddhist traditions and practices must constantly change as they encounter new times, places and cultures. I believe that these eight changes which Nishijima symbolizes will have lasting effects on the future of Zen in the West; and Treeleaf Sangha, where I am one teacher, is dedicated and committed to their furtherance.

1 – STEPPING THROUGH THE TRADITIONAL FOURFOLD CATEGORIES OF PRIEST & LAY, MALE & FEMALE: Unlike most Buddhist clergy in Asia, Japanese priests typically marry and are not celibate. Some look at this as a great failing of Japanese Buddhism, a break from 25 centuries of tradition. In Japan and the West, even some Japanese lineage priests and lay teachers themselves are unsure of their own identity and legitimacy, and of their roles compared to each other. With great wisdom, Nishijima transcended all such questions and limiting categories. He advocated a way of stepping right through and beyond the whole matter, of finding living expressions where others saw restriction, and of preserving the tradition even as things change. While he was a champion of the celibate way (Nishijima Roshi, although married, turned to a celibate lifestyle for himself upon ordination), he never felt that celibacy was the only road for all priests. Nishijima advocated a form of ordination that fully steps beyond and drops away divisions of “Priest or Lay, Male or Female”, yet allows us to fully embody and actuate each and all as the situation requires. In our lineage, we are not ashamed of nor try to hide our sexuality and worldly relationships, nor do we feel conflicted that we are “monks” with kids and mortgages. When I am a parent to my children, I am 100% that and fully there for them. When I am a worker at my job, I am that and embody such a role with sincerity and dedication. And when I am asked to step into the role of hosting zazen, offering a dharma talk, practicing and embodying our history and teachings and passing them on to others, I fully carry out and embody 100% the role of “Priest” in that moment. Whatever the moment requires: maintaining a sangha community, bestowing the Precepts, working with others to help sentient beings. The names we call ourselves do not matter. In Nishijima’s way, we do not ask and are unconcerned with whether we are “Priest” or “Lay”, for we are neither that alone, while always thoroughly both; exclusively each in purest and unadulterated form, yet wholly all at once. It is just as, in the West, we have come to step beyond the hard divisions and discriminations between “male” and “female”, recognizing that each of us may embody all manner of qualities to varying degrees as the circumstances present, and that traditional “male” and “female” stereotypes are not so clear-cut as once held. So it is with the divisions of “Priest” and “Lay”.

2 – FINDING OUR PLACE OF PRACTICE AND TRAINING “OUT IN THE WORLD”: For thousands of years, it was nearly impossible to engage in dedicated Zen practice except in a monastic setting, to access fellow practitioners, teachers and teachings, to have the time and resources and economic means to pursue serious practice, except by abandoning one’s worldly life. By economic and practical necessity, a division of “Priest” and “Lay” was maintained because someone had to grow the food to place in the monks’ bowls, earn the wealth to build great temples, have children to keep the world going into the next generation. Although Mahayana figures like Vimalakirti stood for the principle that liberation is available to all, the practical situation was that only a householder with Vimalakirti’s wealth, leisure and resources might have a real chance to do so. Now, in modern societies with better distributions of wealth (compared to the past, although we still have a long way to go), ‘leisure’ time, literacy and education, media access and means of travel and communication across distances, many of the economic and practical barriers to practice and training have been removed. This is the age when we may begin to figuratively “knock down monastery walls”, to find that Buddha’s Truths may be practiced any place, without divisions of “inside” walls or “outside”. For some of us, the family kitchen, children’s nursery, office or factory where we work diligently and hard, the hospital bed, volunteer activity or town hall are all our “monastery” and place of training. We can come to recognize the “monastery” located in buildings made of wood and tile as in some ways an expedient means, although with their own power and beauty too. There are still times when each of us can benefit from periods of withdrawal and silence, be it a sesshin or ango, or the proverbial grass hut in distant hills. Yes, this Way still needs all manner of people, each pursuing the paths of practice suited to their needs and circumstances, be they temple priests catering to the needs of their parishioners, hermits isolated in caves, celibate monks in mountain monasteries, or “out in the world” types demonstrating that all can be found right in the city streets and busy highways of this modern world. Nishijima, a zen priest yet a working man, a husband and father most of his life, stood for a dropping of “inside” and “out”. He was someone that knew the value of times of retreat, but also the constant realization of these teachings in the home, workplace and soup kitchens.

3 – SAVING ZEN PRACTICE FROM THE ‘FUNERAL CULTURE’ DOMINANT IN JAPAN & THE CREEPING INSTITUTIONAL “CHURCHNESS” APPEARING IN THE WEST: Buddhist priests in Japan play an important role in soothing the hearts of their parishioners during times of mourning. Funerals and memorial services are important aspects of Japanese tradition, as in all cultures. However, Japanese Zen, and other flavors of Buddhism, have become excessively focused on “funeral culture”, almost to the exclusion of all else. Except for shining lights scattered here and there who try to keep the ways of Dogen and Zazen alive, most Japanese Soto Zen priests do not even bother with the sitting of Zazen after their youthful training stint in the monastery. The massive Buddhist institutions of Japan, including the Rinzai and Soto schools, have become licensing guilds turning out conveyor belt priests (usually temple sons compelled into training in order to take over the “funeral business” franchise of their family’s managed temple). Nishijima was ordained and received Dharma Transmission from Rempo Niwa Zenji, the then Abbot of Eihei-ji, the senior Soto Zen monastery. Niwa was then the de facto “Pope” of the Soto Sect yet, knowing that Nishijima was a critic of the whole system he headed, Niwa nonetheless empowered Nishijima as a teacher based on Niwa’s own shared desire to help reform Soto Zen. Right now, in America and Europe, there is a tendency among some big Zen institutions to also grow into large zen “churches”, institutions concerned with preserving their own views of doctrinal “Orthodoxy”, with preserving their status, the authority of their priests, their rights to determine the legitimacy of Ordinations, all by themselves establishing domestic systems of guild membership. Many zen groups in America and Europe often seem to have become too concerned with preserving their turf, donations and influence within the Zen world, acting sometimes “more Japanese than the Japanese”, filled with cliquishness, politics and an “old boys club” attitude toward rooting out the few bad apples of ethical violators. Some other Zen groups have been downright “cultish” in their behavior (we should not be afraid to call a spade a spade on this issue). Of course, the maintenance of basic standards for priest training and ethics are very necessary and to be applauded. Our Treeleaf Sangha fully supports such efforts. The question, however, is where to draw the line between needed standards and helpful training, versus certain groups’ protecting their own primacy, exclusivity, authority and narrow dogma.

4 – OFFERING A HOME TO ZEN FOLKS WHO ARE REFUGEES FROM INSTITUTIONALISM, SECT POLITICS AND SCANDAL IN CERTAIN PARTS OF THE ZEN WORLD: Nishijima provided a haven for many vibrant Zen teachers who were excluded or isolated within other Zen groups in Europe, America and Japan. The situations took many forms: people fleeing the internal politics and factionalism in the Sangha where they first practiced; those blocked by glass ceilings and closed guilds in Japan and elsewhere; Japanese uninterested in joining “funeral culture”; those fleeing cultish behavior and unethical teachers; Christian clergy interested in practicing Zen as Christians; gifted Zen priests and teachers interested in combining Zen practice with home, work and “in the world” life without desire or ambition for monastic training; and people alienated by the doctrinal interpretations and dogma they were encountering in other groups. I often refer to this bunch, very diverse in character and personality, as the “Island of Misfit Zen Toys” (referring to an old children’s program in the US seen each year at Christmas, about an island where all the broken and misfit toys went to live from Santa’s workshop until they found a home). Nishijima provided a home to such folks, each very devoted to this Zen path in his or her own sincere way. Our Treeleaf Sangha, and Nishijima’s other students, will continue to serve as a haven for other “misfit toys” in the future.

5 – A RESPECT FOR TRADITION, YET AN EMPHASIS ON FINDING BRAND NEW EXPRESSIONS SUITABLE FOR MODERN TIMES AND WESTERN CULTURE: Nishijima was thoroughly imbued with the spirit of Dogen, was (with his student Chodo Cross) the translator of Dogen’s complete Shobogenzo into modern Japanese and English, and held that Master Dogen had found ways to express the Buddhist teachings rarely heard until that time. Nonetheless, despite his profound trust in the teachings of Dogen, Nishijima was never a prisoner of Dogen. Among the many treasured teachings of Dogen which are timeless and survive the centuries, Nishijima knew that others were primarily the views and expressions of a man living amid the society and superstitions of 12th century Japan. Those of Dogen’s writings directed primarily to his band of monks at Eiheiji and elsewhere must be placed side by side with Dogen’s other pronouncements recognizing the possibilities of Zen practice for people in all situations in life. The teachings of Dogen are not simply for monks isolated in the snowy mountains, but are for all of us. His words, if appropriate only to his day and culture, should be left to his day and culture. Buddhism, and Dogen’s teachings, can be brought forth and adapted for our places and times. Is this not so for the teachings of so many of our Zen ancestors beyond Dogen as well? I remember, for example, asking Nishijima once about the “right way” to conduct a “Soto Zen funeral” for a good friend who had died in America. Nishijima told me that ultimately I should make a new, heartfelt ritual to honor my friend. He told his students in America, Europe and elsewhere to do things in sincere ways suitable for our cultures and societies, inspired by tradition, perhaps, yet finding new ways to express the same.

6 – AN INTERPRETATION OF ZAZEN AS THE FULFILMENT OF REALITY ITSELF: One key aspect of Dogen’s teachings that Nishijima fully danced, and all his students dance with him, is that Zazen is the fulfillment of Reality itself. On that, nothing more is in need of saying here.

7 – LOOKING FOR COMMON GROUND AND THE COMPATIBILITY OF BUDDHIST TEACHINGS, ZEN AND ZAZEN WITH WESTERN PHILOSOPHY AND SCIENCE: Like D.T. Suzuki, Masao Abe and other Japanese Zen figures of his time, Nishijima thought that Zen teachings could best be introduced to a Western audience via finding common ground with Western philosophy. Years before it was common to load meditators into MRI machines, Nishijima spoke of the connection of Zazen to the brain and human nervous system, influenced by the then cutting-edge research on meditation and the so-called “relaxation response” by Harvard’s Dr Herbert Benson and others. However, I wish to say honestly that Nishijima was not a professional philosopher nor a trained scientist. He tried to express from his own heart all encountered in Zazen. For that reason, he frequently spoke in very personal and, perhaps, too simplified ways on both Western philosophical concepts and, as a scientific layman, about all that is happening in the body and brain. It is only in recent years that we have come to understand that many separate physiological and neurological systems are interlinked in complex ways, each coming to play in Zazen and meditation. Nevertheless, Nishijima stood for the meeting and fundamental compatibility of Buddhist tenets and scientific method.

8 – AVOIDING SUPERSTITION, FANTASY, MIRACLES & MAGICAL INCANTATION IN BUDDHISM: One person’s “sacred and cherished belief” is another person’s “hocus-pocus and nonsense”. Sometimes seemingly exotic practices and legends can possess a psychological power and poetry which opens the human heart, even if not “literally true”. While recognizing that fact, Nishijima Roshi sought to present Zen practice freed of naive beliefs and superstitions, exaggerated claims and idealized myths masquerading as historical events even in our own Zen traditions, all of which can bury and hide the very real power of our Buddhist way in a pile of ignorance and foolishness. I, and many of his other students, join him in that task.

In such eight ways, and many others, Gudo Wafu Nishijima changed Zen Buddhism and continues to do so. His legacy lives on in his many students around the world and his teachings will further enrich and transform our tradition into the future.

]]>http://sweepingzen.com/eight-ways-gudo-wafu-nishijima-will-help-change-zen-buddhism/feed/13OBITUARY: Gudo Wafu Nishijimahttp://sweepingzen.com/obituary-gudo-wafu-nishijima/
http://sweepingzen.com/obituary-gudo-wafu-nishijima/#commentsThu, 30 Jan 2014 18:26:01 +0000http://sweepingzen.com/?p=95945A small announcement that NISHIJIMA GUDO WAFU passed from this visible world. He was my Teacher, and Teacher to many others in the United States (Brad Warner among them), many countries of Europe and the UK, Israel and Japan. Nishijima Roshi was fond of saying that death is just a fact of this moment. Nishijima ...

]]>A small announcement that NISHIJIMA GUDO WAFU passed from this visible world. He was my Teacher, and Teacher to many others in the United States (Brad Warner among them), many countries of Europe and the UK, Israel and Japan. Nishijima Roshi was fond of saying that death is just a fact of this moment.

Nishijima Roshi (西嶋愚道和夫) was born November 29, 1919, and was 94 years old. He Practiced Zazen for nearly 80 years. He was a teacher to Zen students from around the world, and a translator of Buddhist texts from Japanese and Sanskrit. A student of “Homeless” Kodo Sawaki, the itinerant master famous for his efforts to restore Zazen to its place as the center of Buddhist practice, Master Nishijima shared in that philosophy. Master Nishijima was ordained and received Dharma Transmission from the late Master Rempo Niwa, Abbot of Eihei-ji temple and head of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism. Gudo Nishijima wrote and translated many books on Buddhism in both Japanese and English, including full translations of Master Dogen’s Shobogenzo and the Shinji Shobogenzo. Master Nishijima sought to bring the Practice of Zazen out from behind monastery walls into our homes and work places, and to step through and beyond the traditional Sangha divisions of Priest and Lay, Male and Female.

In his memory, in place of chants or prayers, incense and flowers … I might ask simply for the sitting of Zazen.

Here is part of a short documentary about Nishijima Roshi that captures his personality and energy:

]]>http://sweepingzen.com/obituary-gudo-wafu-nishijima/feed/12Treeleaf Zendo videoshttp://sweepingzen.com/treeleaf-zendo-videos/
http://sweepingzen.com/treeleaf-zendo-videos/#commentsWed, 08 Jan 2014 19:43:50 +0000http://sweepingzen.com/?p=91041Treeleaf Zendo is an online practice place for Zen practitioners who cannot easily commute to a Zen Center due to health concerns, living in remote areas, or childcare, work and family needs, and seeks to provide Zazen sittings, retreats, discussion, interaction with a teacher, and all other activities of a Soto Zen Buddhist Sangha. Available ...

Treeleaf Zendo is an online practice place for Zen practitioners who cannot easily commute to a Zen Center due to health concerns, living in remote areas, or childcare, work and family needs, and seeks to provide Zazen sittings, retreats, discussion, interaction with a teacher, and all other activities of a Soto Zen Buddhist Sangha.

]]>http://sweepingzen.com/treeleaf-zendo-videos/feed/0Please sit our Treeleaf Annual Two Day ‘ALL ONLINE’ ROHATSU RETREAT — ANY TIME, ANY PLACE, RIGHT AT HOME!http://sweepingzen.com/please-sit-treeleaf-annual-two-day-online-rohatsu-retreat-time-place-right-home/
http://sweepingzen.com/please-sit-treeleaf-annual-two-day-online-rohatsu-retreat-time-place-right-home/#commentsWed, 11 Dec 2013 12:35:22 +0000http://sweepingzen.com/?p=88401Need a place for Rohatsu Retreat right from home, where you can make the time? Looking for a “Retreat” that can blend seamlessly with your responsibilities as a parent? Are you someone unable to travel due to age or illness? Please sit our Treeleaf Annual ‘AT HOME’ Two Day ‘ALL ONLINE’ ROHATSU (Buddha’s Enlightenment Day) RETREAT …NETCAST from ...

]]>Need a place for Rohatsu Retreat right from home, where you can make the time? Looking for a “Retreat” that can blend seamlessly with your responsibilities as a parent? Are you someone unable to travel due to age or illness?

Please sit our Treeleaf Annual ‘AT HOME’ Two Day ‘ALL ONLINE’ ROHATSU (Buddha’s Enlightenment Day) RETREAT …NETCAST from Japan, but available to be sat any place, any times, wherever you are. Do join with us if you have no Retreat to attend this Rohatsu.

Please look at our sitting schedule and eventsHERE. The two days include Zazen sitting, Kinhin, Chanting, Zazen, Oryoki, Zazen, Bowing, Talks, ‘Samu’ Work Practice, and More Zazen, as in any Soto Zen Retreat, all in celebration of the Buddha’s days of Zazen and Enlightenment under the Bodhi Tree. Easy to follow preparations and instructions are provided for establishing a retreat space in your own home, and in keeping with other responsibilities you may have (such as being a “mom” or “dad”).

Our Treeleaf Sangha (link here) was designed specifically as an online practice place for Zen practitioners who cannot easily commute to a Zen Center due to health concerns, living in remote areas, or work, childcare and family needs, and seeks to provide Zazen sittings, retreats, discussion, interaction with a teacher, and all other activities of a Zen Buddhist Sangha, all fully online. Members now sit together from over 50 countries. The focus is Shikantaza “Just Sitting” Zazen as instructed by the 13th Century Japanese Master, Eihei Dogen.

]]>http://sweepingzen.com/please-sit-treeleaf-annual-two-day-online-rohatsu-retreat-time-place-right-home/feed/0“Zen At War” AUTHOR BRIAN VICTORIA’S WAR ON ZEN – by Jundo Cohenhttp://sweepingzen.com/zen-war-author-brian-victorias-unethical-bahavior-jundo-cohen/
http://sweepingzen.com/zen-war-author-brian-victorias-unethical-bahavior-jundo-cohen/#commentsSat, 21 Sep 2013 17:03:34 +0000http://sweepingzen.com/?p=88225If a scholar fudges data, exaggerates or makes up facts, cherry-picks phrases taken so far out of context that their meanings are quite opposite, mistranslates so often and so widely that one must wonder about the intentionality behind it, then the world is right to question that scholar’s ethics and the reliability of his research. That is ...

]]>If a scholar fudges data, exaggerates or makes up facts, cherry-picks phrases taken so far out of context that their meanings are quite opposite, mistranslates so often and so widelythat one must wonder about the intentionality behind it, then the world is right to question that scholar’s ethics and the reliability of his research. That is so even if a part of his research is based on reliable facts, has real substance and deserves praise.

Take the case, for example, of a researcher in the natural sciences who advocates a theory on stem cells which is partially true and supported by certain solid evidence, yet who nonetheless fudges a large portion of his total data and cherry picks, exaggerates and twists many results to make the theory appear far stronger and more accurate than it truly is. Most of us would have no difficulty in questioning the researcher’s ethics and trustworthiness. (http://www.nature.com/ncb/journal/v1…ncb0111-1.html). We would be left rightly confused about which portions of his proposals we can believe and which are made up. The same would be the case if a historian in the social sciences misrepresented or manufactured evidence which he mixed in with various reliable facts.

Thus, it is time to condemn more widely “Zen At War” author and historian Brian Victoria for like behavior in many of his writings on Japanese Buddhism and militarism.

Although his books and conclusions are widely cited by those critical of Japanese Buddhism (and although many of those criticisms are quite legitimate with regard to some Buddhist figures of the past and Brian is to be thanked for bringing these stories to the world’s attention), few general readers of his works are aware that his methods and intentions have been questioned in the strongest terms over many years by those who have looked closely at his work. Readers may take his assertions at face value, unaware that many who have reviewed his material have raised their voices to question his honesty. It is rare to hear scholars question the motivations of a fellow scholar so bluntly and directly in print, but several respected historians and Buddhist scholars have felt the need to do so. However, because many of these voices have appeared in relatively obscure academic journals, most of Victoria’s readers are unaware of these criticisms citing Victoria’s frequent misuse of facts, repeated painting with too broad a brush, taking of many key passages out of context, overstating events or personal connections among historical figures, and serial mistranslations of key passages.

Perhaps Victoria’s principle critic has been scholar and Shin Buddhist Priest Kemmyō Taira Satō, in two articles published in The Eastern Buddhist entitled “D.T. Suzuki and the Question of War” …

The most basic of these issues, and the one most disturbing to readers I have heard from, concerns Victoria’s use of sources. How a scholar employs quoted passages and other data is not a minor issue that will go away if ignored. It is indicative of a scholar’s integrity, providing a gauge of his or her attitude toward the academic endeavor as a whole. Since few readers can take the time to check a scholar’s sources, especially those in foreign languages, readers depend on scholars to accurately represent the passages they cite in support of their arguments, arguments that are trustworthy only to the extent that they are true to the material upon which they are based. The scholar’s responsibility is especially great in a case such as this, which involves an attack on a person’s reputation. What is a reader to conclude, then, if the evidence on which the attack is based turns out to have been seriously misrepresented? (Question of Scholarship, Page 140)

…

In the examples cited above, the disparity between Suzuki’s actual meaning and Victoria’s characterization of it is, in my opinion, too great to pass off as mere carelessness or scholarly ineptitude, and leads me to question Victoria’s assertion that he is not out to “get” Suzuki but is committed “to gathering and presenting as much relevant information as possible before reaching a conclusion” (as he claims in another response to my article). Victoria’s failure to even acknowledge, much less explain, misrepresentations such as these suggests to me that he sees nothing wrong with them and exempts himself from the no-compromise-with-truth standard he applies to Suzuki. Moreover, distortions of such seriousness give rise to a question quite relevant to the present exchange: if Victoria’s presentations of even straightforward passages cannot be taken at face value, how much credence can be accorded his discussions of far more complex and nuanced issues such as the nature of Suzuki’s views in A New Theory of Religion and his articles on Bushido? Victoria will no doubt take umbrage at the implication that he has chosen to deliberately deceive the reader. I myself would prefer to think otherwise, so I would very much welcome a forthright and convincing explanation of why he handled Suzuki’s statements as he did.(Question of Scholarship, Page 143-4)

I can only imagine that in order to prove Tsunesaburo Makiguchi cooperated with the war effort, Victoria has shaped his arguments to fit his pre-established conclusion, willfully quoting only those passages of Makiguchi’s writings that would seem to support it. … While there is ample room for the frank exchange of academic views, including highly critical ones, it is important that a tendentious agenda, clothed in the guise of academic research, not stand unchallenged.http://www.globalbuddhism.org/3/miyata021.htm

This is Dr. Victoria’s translation of the last paragraph of Makiguchi’s discussion of humanitarian competition, taken out of context and interpreted to support his thesis that Makiguchi supported Japanese militarism and territorial expansion through military conquest. … The writer of “Engaged Buddhism: A Skeleton in the Closet?” [Victoria] completely missed, it appears, or deliberately ignored, such dimensions of Makiguchi’s writings … To suggest, as Dr. Victoria does, that Makiguchi’s sole aim in education was to create fodder for the Japanese militarists’ suicidal battles is a gross misinterpretation of what Makiguchi wrote and what he stood for.http://enlight.lib.ntu.edu.tw/FULLTE…N/an147425.pdf

Nelson Foster and the respected writer and poet Gary Snyder said this of Victoria in the pages of Tricycle magazine, one of the few popular articles outside of academic circles making these challenges known, and openly raising the intentional nature of the mistakes:

Victoria has managed to get Suzuki’s positions on bushido and militarism essentially backward, and it is hard to see how such a result could flow from simple errors of research. The elaborate construction of Victoria’s argument and his exclusion of readily available, powerfully contravening evidence suggest a purposeful assault on Suzuki’s reputation.http://www.tricycle.com/feature/fog-…ar-ii?page=0,1

Muho Noelke, the German born Abbot of Japan’s Antaiji temple, has written to Victoria, openly challenging his misquoting and mistranslating statements by Soto Zen teacher Kodo Sawaki. Muho wrote in an e-mail exchange with Victoria published by Muho:

What I think is problematic is the way you present Sawaki with two famous quotes, i.e. the one with the precept throwing the bomb and Sawaki gorging himself on killing people. Not only do you distort the picture of Sawaki, but you also do damage to your own cause, because even those who would follow your reasoning if it was more balanced and objective (or “Middle Way”) will feel tempted to contradict you when they know the real context of those quotes. … For me, taking quotes out of context just to make them serve one’s purpose (and one’s message being put forward in an extremely aggresive and war-like way) is a sign of being blinded by own’s ego.http://antaiji.dogen-zen.de/eng/2008….y8cbvI1Y.dpuf

So why do I, Jundo Cohen, feel compelled to add my small voice and write on this subject today?

Because I myself am a translator of Japanese and a Soto Zen Buddhist priest like Brian who has, in my small way, also been a frequent critic of the Zen establishment in Japan and the West. I am the translator who recently translated and published long hidden accounts of the Rev. Joshu Sasaki’s arrest, prosecution and imprisonment for a financial embezzlement scandal many years ago in Japan involving the diversion of government and temple funds (http://zuiganji-affair.com/). I have written in support of those questioning the social responsibility and reaction of Soto-Shu, the Japanese Zen world and other Buddhist organizations to the events following the Great Tsunami and Fukushima (http://sweepingzen.com/book-review-t…ost-311-japan/). I very much believe that such criticisms must not be swept under a rug. I believe the Zen world (all of us) can do better. I believe that people coming to practice Buddhism or Zen have a right to consider such important information before placing their spiritual and personal well-being in the hands of our Traditions and Teachers, and that questionable or despicable conduct by some in the Buddhist or Zen world today or stretching back into history should be uncovered, publicized, condemned, made amends for.

In fact, I generally support many of Victoria’s conclusions and join with him in his outcry.

Nonetheless, I feel that the critic may overstep a line, fall into mudslinging, witch-hunts and outright fibbing. It is right to uncover actual corruption, and Victoria has done a great service in shedding light on a dark time in our history, but nearly destroys his argument by his questionable methods and exaggerated conclusions. A translator and historian must not take out of context, cherry pick, selectively edit to radically change meanings, serially mistranslate in ways radically altering the point of a statement. To do so is simply to have a political or ideological agenda, and to alter or invent evidence in order to prove one’s personal theory. While pointing to a few people who truly deserve our criticism for their behavior, Victoria has put words in peoples’ mouths who never said such things, he has (along with pointing to some people who truly deserve it) cast mud on other peoples’ reputations for things they did not say or do. Shame on him for doing so.

Why am I writing now? Because I am someone interested in these issues who can speak and read Japanese, I took the time to go back and review many of the original Japanese documents which are the source of Prof. Sato’s and others’ condemnations of Victoria’s writings. I wanted to see who was telling the truth. I was sickened and dishearted by what I found when, with my own eyes, I could see exactly what Sato and the others were pointing out as examples of egregious mistranslation, misrepresentation of context and the like. I urge everyone reading this to go back and read Kemmyō Taira Sato’s English language articles linked to above, discussing the matter of D.T. Suzuki, and see for themselves example after example.

Why have few criticized Victoria until now? Probably because we are embarrassed and cowed by the ugliness he did uncover, with a sense (quite rightfully, mind you) of guilt and responsibility for the past. Many have probably felt that speaking up about Victoria’s abuses would seem like a defense of the evils that Victoria was condemning. However, it is time for many in the Zen and Buddhist world who are conversant with these stories to simultaneously condemn Brian Victoria, in the strongest terms, for his sometime failings too. He set off on a good and needed mission, but muddled it with his own lack of standards. Might not we even say that he sometimes himself exhibited behavior very much equivalent to the unethical actions and duplicity he accuses others of in his writings?

Let’s keep up the good fight to uncover wrongs, reflect and atone, make things right. But let us do so in a forthright and honest way. One must not manipulate and straighten twisted vines.

]]>http://sweepingzen.com/zen-war-author-brian-victorias-unethical-bahavior-jundo-cohen/feed/25TREELEAF SANGHA Our 6th Anniversary – What Our Members Say.http://sweepingzen.com/treeleaf-sangha-our-6th-anniversary-what-our-members-say/
http://sweepingzen.com/treeleaf-sangha-our-6th-anniversary-what-our-members-say/#commentsSat, 13 Jul 2013 05:57:21 +0000http://sweepingzen.com/?p=87046As we pass our SIXTH ANNIVERSARY since opening the doors at TREELEAF SANGHA, I thought it a good time to hear what our long term members and some newer folks have to say about the so-called “online Sangha experience”. We meet a lot cynicism from folks who say that Practice our way can’t be the same as ...

]]>As we pass our SIXTH ANNIVERSARY since opening the doors at TREELEAF SANGHA, I thought it a good time to hear what our long term members and some newer folks have to say about the so-called “online Sangha experience”. We meet a lot cynicism from folks who say that Practice our way can’t be the same as a “bricks and mortar” group, but in fact we have proven that there are many strengths, opportunities and positives to our community that many “inside walls” Zen centers cannot offer. I often say that Treeleaf is “not a virtual Sangha, and just a Sangha like any other”. No Sangha suits everyone, of course, but in fact, we are a very special, healthy and vibrant Sangha, with members in America, Europe, Israel, Japan, India and elsewhere.

Here are volunteered comments by our members, most of whom have practiced with a variety of other Buddhist groups before coming our way:

———-

I’ve been around the ‘Zen scene’ for some time now and I’ve met wonderful people, incredible people and some not so wonderful people. So when I first came to know about Treeleaf and after accessing the site a few times as a guest and thought of applying to join Treeleaf, I asked some of these people what they thought of it. I also read blogs and other stuff to take a sounding. I got a mixture of responses and opinions but in the main the feeling was “we’ll it’s OK but it’s not the real thing”. Whatever they thought the ‘real’ thing to be, the consensus of opinion seemed to be as a substitute, if one wasn’t able to attend a ‘real’ zendo and sitting live with a sangha, it was fine but it was not an alternative to this.

Now in some senses these people were right. We here do not have a bricks and mortar zendo and we do not meet in this kind of place and sit ‘live’ in the way they meant. But I. all other things they were completely WRONG.

For one thing we have each other and the support of all. The discussions, questions and answers, thoughts and deeds, care and support that happens here, far outweighs all I have encountered in my experience. But the main thing, and this is really what I have said so far is all about our teachers Taigu and Jundo. They are ‘the business’, ‘the goods’ as they say, ‘the real thing’. Looking at they efforts here everyday one can not doubt their dedication and commitment but not only this, one only has to look at their contributions here today Taigu’s “This and that” and Jundo’s last response to shikantazen (Sam) to experience genuine insight and wisdom. Who,if any, then, could doubt their authority and authenticity in the zen tradition.

So I want to express, without any trace of fawning or synchophancy, my deepest gratitude and I want to invite any or all, whether you have done so before on one or many occasions, to join me.
deep deep bows

———-

I find this true as well. Only I might be even more expansive and say that, as to your second point, Treeleaf may be more authentic than “live” sang has. I sit now and then with a large Chinese Chan group in my city. But, that is the ONLY time I see members of that sangha. There really is no interaction other than on Monday nights. Treeleaf is authentic practice.

———-

Well said, I too have the utmost gratitude for both teachers and sangha here.

———-

I am grateful for your presence – each and every one of you. My gratitude is deeper than I can express in words. I will leave it to my practice then to express my fellowship with and commitment to you.

———-

I am grateful for everything and everyone here. It is as authentic, if not more so than anywhere else I have been.
Deep bows to you all.

———-

I too am very grateful for our teachers Jundo and Taigu … for all the wonderful Sangha members.

———-

Hear, hear! And deep bows.

———-

I echo these statements. My gratitude is expansive.

———-

I also have much gratitude for TreeLeaf, Jundo, Taigu, and everyone here. I am new and I am already so very thankful for TreeLeaf.

———-

I feel the same. Bows to everyone; 108 to Jundo and Taigu.

———-

Deep bows to one, two and all! _/\_ _/\_ _/\_

———-

Treeleaf is as real a Zendo as any.

It all comes down to how you embrace new technology and how you commit to your practice.

Sure, a Zendo near your house might feel “real” but reality comes from your practice and from the confidence the teachers create.

Our teachers here in Treeleaf have created something unique that helps people like me, who lives in a place where zen belongs in movies and new age magazines, to have a home and a real temple to go to.

And then there’s the people here who practice and sit together with no borders or time.

We learn and support each other.

Treeleaf is home.

———-

_/\_

———-

I fully agree with what has been said here.

I even think that there is more communication/interaction in this Sangha thanks to different time zones. There is always someone here, you can sit at different times with different people, and even if it is “only” with the recording.
People really care for each other in times of crisis and are lucky for others when something nice occurred (equally important IMHO).

However, I do hope I’ll meet at least some of you guys “in person” one day…

Gassho,

———-

You have our gratitude.

Thank you.

———-

Last fall I tried out a local sitting group for a while. I was reluctant to tell them I was part of an “online sangha” because I figured they wouldn’t get it and I was right, they strongly suggested there was no substitute for getting together to sit in person.

Then, after the sitting, they fired up a laptop and we had a book discussion group on Skype, led by the teacher, who lives a couple towns away. I almost laughed out loud.

Actually they were a very nice group but I felt like I already had roots here–because I do.

———-

Roots. That’s it. Fits right in with lineage.

———-

I agree. I have been a member of several well established Zen Centers/Monasterys with “well published” teachers over the years. Except in one case I have found Rev. Jundo (I am sure this is true of Rev. Taigu as well but haven’t reached out) to be accessible in a manner well beyond what those teachers could offer. That accessibility is on a level that makes it easy to understand that “all of life” is indeed “our Temple” our pracitice. This is not to say that those other teachers were not genuine but for me Treeleaf offers something very valuable to me that they did not.

Furthermore, in all those 20 years I had very few dialogues with fellow students; with the notable exception of a lifelong Dharma friendship with one Rinzai nun. It may seem strange to say, but Treeleaf feels the most like “living” with a Sangha that I have experienced and that includes a period when I was living in a Chan Center as a prospective monk in my early 20’s.

Thank you Rev.s Jundo and Taigu and thank you to all fellow practitioners out there. Treeleaf has become a very important part of my life.

———-

Treeleaf is as real as any Zendo I have been into…. but here the people feel closer, the teachers actually can hear and speak with you anytime, you can always learn and relearn something new, over and over again… and it is open 24/7… What else could anyone ask for???

And there is no way the Kyosaku will hurt you , no matter how hard you are hit!!!

Deep Gassho for all my friends/teachers over here

———-

Good thread. Something that has brought up a lot of questions I have. Online versus in-person

The role treeleaf is playing is remarkable and very useful due to the following reasons:

– The teachers are of high quality, especially in the form of Shikantaza style of soto-zen. We rarely find good teachers in this form of meditation. Most zen teachers teach counting/following breath
– The forum style of interaction lets you benefit from others questions. Also when you pose a question traditionally at zen centers only teachers answer that. Here you get several answers from senior students as well and one of those answers might resonate better to you.
– Tree Leaf is unique in its kind as its the only online training Zen center. I feel this makes it more successful as a business model because in places where there are no Zen centers, this is the only option and in places where there are Zen centers this still can be an addition or the only preferred choice too.

Having said that, let me pose a question: If Jundo and Taigu were teaching in your neighborhood, would you still prefer the online thing versus going physically to their Zendo?

I think the online thing has its own advantages as mentioned above. But I heard a teacher’s physical presence itself can uplift you spiritually and any energy transmission is more easier in person. I don’t know how true this is. Also for group meditations, I feel the same thing applies, a physical setting gives a better cumulative effect than an online setting.

I still have to come to terms with the idea of having Treeleaf as my “only” Zendo. It is a wonderful and irreplaceable addition especially as I have access to good number of Zen centers at my place.

———-

Treeleaf or a physical Zendo are good options. Both a Physical Zendo and Treeleaf together are good. I don’t think it really matters. What is most important is sincerity in our practice. I think the point most of us Treeleafers are trying to make is that the criticism aimed at this Sangh is unjustified simply because our teachers are sincere and the practice here is sincere so long as you choose to wholeheartedly enter what is being taught here which is a particular style of Soto Zen.

Regarding your comment:

I heard a teacher’s physical presence itself can uplift you spiritually and any energy transmission is more easier in person.

Though I think it is probalby best that Reverend’s Jundo and/or Taigu respond to this, I would like to add my 2 cents for all it’s worth. My personal opinion is that such claims are not very helpful and put the teacher on a pedestal that is potentially harmful to them and their students. Such ideas about a teacher seem to be needlessly extravagant and do little to orient a person to their own daily life and practice. I don’t really think there is anything special about anyone’s “energy”. It’s common knowledge that all the universe is energy. So it is what it is, we are what we are which is wonderful and mundane all at once.

———-

I have to admit that the online nature of this zendo was one of my stumbling blocks when I began. I thought that maybe it would not be ‘real’ enough. Or worse, that others would think I was not engaging in ‘real zen.’

However, once I just let all of that go (my ideas, my ego), I found this to be an incredibly supportive and vibrant community. Thank you to Jundo, Taigu, and to each member.

Deep bows,

———-

Treeleaf is as real as any other sangha. Sometimes even more real in spirit then some congregations at one single location and I think that’s amazing. I’m grateful to you all for sitting and for being here.

Deep bows to you all.

———-

The benefits of any zendo are dependent on the same thing, our own commitment and dedication to our practice. Tree Leaf offers great opportunities to learn, teach, share life lessons, get to know your sangha, etc. But without self discipline, control, and dedication to practice these things are just words on an internet forum. Real or not real? Only we can control that, bricks or no bricks.

———-

I would’ve definitely not established a consistent zen practice had it not been for Treeleaf.

Gassho,

———-

I am always amazed at the wisdom of the Senior students here. That is a reflection of the quality of the teaching offered.

———-

I think it’s telling that when this topic came up (over a year ago) most of the members who responded (and it was an interesting and challenging discussion) are still active members. This says a lot.

I do believe Tree Leaf is evolving and will continue to do so – in many positive ways. This is possible because of the dedication of teachers and students – and a willingness to take on board the idea that even a good thing has the potential for change and growth.

So, thank you all,

———-

Our zendo is HUGE! It’s comprised of all of our homes. Think of the expanse of that.

———-

Treeleaf is the 2nd Sangha I’ve experienced. It was nice having a brick and mortar zendo, but it was only there for me when I was present. All of my fellow Treeleafers are always here. I can get online and read the forums, ask questions, talk about an issue and someone is always there to help. I never miss anything because it’s all recorded onlne. Our Sangha is imperfectly perfect all the time! Then there are the lessons, sewing the Rakasu…I get all enthused about my practice when I describe Treeleaf. Go Treeleafers, Go!!!

———-

Unless you are training at a monastery, it’s quite difficult to attend the “brick and mortar” every day. And most centers, except the biggest ones, don’t offer sitting space everyday anyway; at best maybe once or twice a week. In it’s unique way, TreeLeaf is providing everyday access to the sangha’s interaction and sharing.

———-

I was envious of ppl who were fortunate to live close enough to have a sangha. I was even thinking of making some trips to the closest one (which is about 2 1/2 hrs away) However, now that I’ve found TreeLeaf, I do not feel the need to do that anymore. So, yeah, I join you in cheering for TreeLeaf

———-

THANK YOU EVERYONE! !

Treeleaf Zendo was designed specifically as an online practice place for Zen practitioners who cannot easily commute to a Zen Center due to health concerns, living in remote areas, or work, childcare and family needs, and seeks to provide Zazen sittings, retreats, discussion, interaction with a teacher, and all other activities of a Zen Buddhist Sangha, all fully online. Members now sit in over 50 countries. The focus is Shikantaza “Just Sitting” Zazen as instructed by the 13th Century Japanese Master, Eihei Dogen.

]]>http://sweepingzen.com/treeleaf-sangha-our-6th-anniversary-what-our-members-say/feed/0GUEST TEACHERS at Treeleaf Sangha: Koun Franz & Gustav Ericssonhttp://sweepingzen.com/guest-teachers-at-treeleaf-sangha-koun-franz-gustav-ericsson/
http://sweepingzen.com/guest-teachers-at-treeleaf-sangha-koun-franz-gustav-ericsson/#commentsFri, 28 Jun 2013 06:05:04 +0000http://sweepingzen.com/?p=86942Rev. Koun Franz and Lutheran Priest Gustav Ericsson honored us as Guest Teachers at TREELEAF SANGHA, leading Zazen and offering Talks at two special Zazenkai, and we invite you to join in and sit-a-long. Koun spoke on the Bodhisattva as Superhero and Gustav on Zazen as a Christian Cleric, as well as many other topics. Koun Franz is a Sōtō Zen priest born in Helena, ...

Rev. Koun Franz and Lutheran Priest Gustav Ericssonhonored us as Guest Teachers at TREELEAF SANGHA, leading Zazen and offering Talks at two special Zazenkai, and we invite you to join in and sit-a-long. Koun spoke on the Bodhisattva as Superhero and Gustav on Zazen as a Christian Cleric, as well as many other topics.

Koun Franz is a Sōtō Zen priest born in Helena, Montana. He has spent more than half of his adult life in Japan. He was ordained in 2001, then trained at Zuioji and Shogoji monasteries. From 2006 to 2010, he served as resident priest of the Anchorage Zen Community. Two years ago, Koun and his family moved back to Japan (Kumamoto), where he studies, trains, lectures, and does Buddhist-related translation work. He is soon moving to Canada, with dreams of establishing a Soto style monastery there. He is also a practitioner of sewing the Nyoho-e Kesa, as we are at Treeleaf. His always very interesting blog is …

Koun is a great champion of preserving the Ways and Traditions of monastic Practice, and has been very active in organizing an international Ango, a three month special Retreat period, at Shogoji Temple in Japan to host non-Japanese priests and teach them the traditional ways of Japanese Soto Zen. At the same time, Koun is a dad with small kids, and believes in the Practice of Daily Life too.

My Dharma Brother, Gustav Ericsson, is a fellow student of Gudo Wafu Nishijima Roshi and, since 2010, a Lutheran Priest with the Church of Sweden, which is the largest Christian church organization in Sweden and the largest Lutheran church in the world. In 2009 he founded Anzenkai, which is an interreligious network of friends based on daily Shikantaza Zazen. He is also a former prison guard before becoming a Lutheran priest. Obviously, Gustav is very interested in the intersection of Zen and Christian Teachings. You can read an interview with Gustav HERE.

Please join us for Zazenkai with Gustav below.

The Zazenkai with Koun Franz is for registered Treeleaf members. If you are interested in undertakingShikantaza, you might consider to join us and come sit with our Sangha. The link to Koun’s sitting is here, but requires membership.

]]>http://sweepingzen.com/sit-a-long-with-jundo-wholeness/feed/3Treeleaf Sangha “Homeleaving” Priest Ordination, Held Simultaneously in Mexico, Canada, US and Japanhttp://sweepingzen.com/treeleaf-sangha-homeleaving-priest-ordination-held-simultaneously-in-mexico-canada-us-japan/
http://sweepingzen.com/treeleaf-sangha-homeleaving-priest-ordination-held-simultaneously-in-mexico-canada-us-japan/#commentsMon, 10 Jun 2013 17:32:37 +0000http://sweepingzen.com/?p=85655I am pleased to announce that our Treeleaf Sangha conducted a “Shukke Tokudo” Homeleaving Ordination Ceremony this week in the traditional manner, with the Preceptor (Jundo Cohen) in Japan and our new Novice-Priests in Mexico, Canada and the United States. Face-to-Face, Heart-to-Heart … expressing all Being-Time-Space in the Ten Directions, in the presence of the Buddhas and ...

]]>I am pleased to announce that our Treeleaf Sangha conducted a “Shukke Tokudo” Homeleaving Ordination Ceremony this week in the traditional manner, with the Preceptor (Jundo Cohen) in Japan and our new Novice-Priests in Mexico, Canada and the United States.

Face-to-Face, Heart-to-Heart … expressing all Being-Time-Space in the Ten Directions, in the presence of the Buddhas and Ancestors … a ritual performed simultaneously on two continents, witnessed by a Sangha in Europe, Israel and America … beyond all thought of ‘here’ ‘there’ ‘now’ ‘then’. Our new Novices, Kyonin, Yugen and Shokai, join our Novices, Fugen, Mongen and Shohei. Dosho and Myozan, who were Ordained in 2010 and 2012. As Master Dogen has written in Shobogenzo Zazenshin, “Neither value the remote nor disparage what is remote. Be accustomed and intimate with the remote. Neither disparage what is close, nor value the close. Be accustomed and intimate with the close. Do not treat your eyes lightly, and do not attach great importance to your eyes. And do not attach great importance to your ears, and do not treat your ears lightly. Just make your ears and your eyes sharp and clear.” Dogen writes in Shobogenzo-Menju, Face-To-Face, “By bowing down in respect to the Face of Shakyamuni Buddha and by transferring the Eye of Shakyamuni Buddha to our own eyes, we will have transferred our eyes to the Eye of Buddha. Ours will be the very Eye and Face of Buddha…. ”

]]>http://sweepingzen.com/treeleaf-sangha-homeleaving-priest-ordination-held-simultaneously-in-mexico-canada-us-japan/feed/0From Jundo Cohen: REQUEST FOR COMMENT BY SASAKI ROSHI/HEIRS ON ZUIGANJI TRANSLATIONShttp://sweepingzen.com/from-jundo-cohen-request-for-comment-by-sasaki-roshiheirs-on-zuiganji-translations/
http://sweepingzen.com/from-jundo-cohen-request-for-comment-by-sasaki-roshiheirs-on-zuiganji-translations/#commentsThu, 11 Apr 2013 12:12:41 +0000http://sweepingzen.com/?p=83527I have completed my translation of a second article regarding the arrest and prosecution of Rev. Sasaki in the so-called Zuiganji Affair. However, I have specifically asked Rev. Malone of the Sasaki Archives to hold off posting the same at that website until we can request clarification on the content from Rev. Sasaki and/or his ...

]]>I have completed my translation of a second article regarding the arrest and prosecution of Rev. Sasaki in the so-called Zuiganji Affair. However, I have specifically asked Rev. Malone of the Sasaki Archives to hold off posting the same at that website until we can request clarification on the content from Rev. Sasaki and/or his Heirs, should they have anything to say. I have sent a copy of the translation and the substance of the below message to Rev. Eshin Godfrey, the new Abbot of Rinzai-ji, with a request that they do so if they wish.

I believe the content of the articles being posted merit and demand some statement or comment from Rev. Sasaki, who I understand is still in a very solid and cogent mental state despite his physical weaknesses. Although I am simply trying to translate and present the content of the Articles, and their reporting of events, as accurately as possible from the Japanese language, it is clear that the content of the story, the claims and descriptions in it, may deserve some clarification, explanation, filling in of missing details, corrections, additional facts and the like if there is anything in the articles which Rev. Sasaki might believe merits correction or other information. He may or may not have anything to add or correct, but I do not wish only one side of the story, from old reports in the Japanese press, to be reported without hearing or requesting some comment from Rev. Sasaki and/or his students who may have additional information on this matter.

If a statement from Rev. Sasaki will be forthcoming, or needs some days to arrange, I have informed Rev. Godfrey that I am happy to wait with any further posting a few days until such time.

I just want to afford an opportunity for fair comment and clarification by parties involved regarding the version told in the Japanese press of the time.

I also want to emphasize again that I take no credit for the energetic and sincere efforts to find these old news articles, which work was done by Japanese individuals willing to assist the Sasaki Archives in its effort to disclose facts that should be discussed. I am simply providing these translations at the request of Rev. Malone and in conjunction with Rev. Grace Schireson, who are also merely interested in fact finding too and deserve the real credit. In any event, “taking credit” is not a phrase I would apply to such an unfortunate task. I know that all concerned are sincerely interested in what anyone with relevant information has to say to clarify the content and insure accuracy in these reports and their content as they are released.

]]>http://sweepingzen.com/from-jundo-cohen-request-for-comment-by-sasaki-roshiheirs-on-zuiganji-translations/feed/20Announcement from Jundo: NO MORE ZAZEN at TREELEAF! I’m Sick of It!http://sweepingzen.com/announcement-from-jundo-no-more-zazen-at-treeleaf-im-sick-of-it/
http://sweepingzen.com/announcement-from-jundo-no-more-zazen-at-treeleaf-im-sick-of-it/#commentsMon, 01 Apr 2013 15:08:18 +0000http://sweepingzen.com/?p=82319I QUIT! I have a confession to make, and have already spoken to Taigu about it, he agrees. Time to face the facts … and the fat. We both CAN’T TAKE ANOTHER MINUTE OF ZAZEN! Where do I get all the hours back I spent staring at dust balls roll across the floor? Sorry, but we ...

]]>http://sweepingzen.com/announcement-from-jundo-no-more-zazen-at-treeleaf-im-sick-of-it/feed/7SIT-A-LONG with Jundo: Beautiful-Ugly-Buddha Eyehttp://sweepingzen.com/sit-a-long-with-jundo-beautiful-ugly-buddha-eye/
http://sweepingzen.com/sit-a-long-with-jundo-beautiful-ugly-buddha-eye/#commentsSun, 17 Feb 2013 13:38:25 +0000http://sweepingzen.com/?p=81548Sitting with the beautiful AND the ugly in this world … finding that which simultaneously transcends and holds, breathes in and breathes out, “beautiful vs. ugly“ … is our Practice. We are free of aversion and attraction even as we have our ordinary human aversions and attractions, pulling the weeds we can and watering the flowers … even as ...

]]>Sitting with the beautiful AND the ugly in this world … finding that which simultaneously transcends and holds, breathes in and breathes out, “beautiful vs. ugly“ … is our Practice.

We are free of aversion and attraction even as we have our ordinary human aversions and attractions, pulling the weeds we can and watering the flowers … even as we embrace each as just what they are. One finds Wholeness, Light, Beauty that is unconcerned by small human judgments of beauty and ugliness.

We observe the terrible battle fields for what they are, even as we seek to make peace. We sit serenely in the sick room, even as we try to cure the disease. We transcend yet fully embrace a world of beauty and ugliness, even as we do what we can to mend the ugly and make it beautiful.

Is it not the same when we find a certain ugliness amid the beautiful in Buddhism too? A naive student who demands ONLY beauty and goodness in the world … even the Buddhist world … one sidedly rejecting the sometimes distasteful or even criminal, may miss the Real Treasure that shines through all of it. That is so even as, in our Wisdom and Equanimity, we keep pulling the weeds we can and nurture the flowers, praise the good and punish the wrongdoer. All at Once, the Eye of Buddha holding all.

Master Dogen quoted his Master’s poem in Baike, On Plum Blossoms … which flower on gnarled twisted branches in our garden each cold February …

The thorn-like, spike-branched Old Plum Tree
Suddenly bursts forth, first with one or two blossoms,
Then with three, four, five, and finally blossoms beyond count.

]]>http://sweepingzen.com/sit-a-long-with-jundo-beautiful-ugly-buddha-eye/feed/0SIT-A-LONG with Taigu; Unmaskinghttp://sweepingzen.com/sit-a-long-with-taigu-unmasking/
http://sweepingzen.com/sit-a-long-with-taigu-unmasking/#commentsSun, 03 Feb 2013 18:11:37 +0000http://sweepingzen.com/?p=81347After Jundo s eloquent post and video [Even Buddhas Get The Blues], my humble take on the subject. Much like the beautiful dancing Dorothy on the yellow brick road, OUR JOB IS TO UNMASK THE WIZARD, in other words to dispel the illusion of the ego and turn the three poisons, the three little companions of ...

]]>After Jundo s eloquent post and video [Even Buddhas Get The Blues], my humble take on the subject.
Much like the beautiful dancing Dorothy on the yellow brick road, OUR JOB IS TO UNMASK THE WIZARD, in other words to dispel the illusion of the ego and turn the three poisons, the three little companions of Dorothy, into compassion, wisdom and action.